confirm
Americanverb (used with object)
-
confirms,
present (3rd person singular)
-
confirmed,
past participle, past
-
confirming
present participle
-
to establish the truth, accuracy, validity, or genuineness of; corroborate; verify.
This report confirms my suspicions.
- Synonyms:
- validate, authenticate, substantiate, prove
- Antonyms:
- disprove
-
to acknowledge with definite assurance.
Did the hotel confirm our room reservation?
-
to make valid or binding by some formal or legal act; sanction; ratify.
to confirm a treaty;
to confirm her appointment to the Supreme Court.
- Antonyms:
- invalidate
-
to make firm or more firm; add strength to; settle or establish firmly.
Their support confirmed my determination to run for mayor.
- Synonyms:
- fix
- Antonyms:
- shake
-
to strengthen (a person) in habit, resolution, opinion, etc..
The accident confirmed him in his fear of driving.
-
to administer the religious rite of confirmation to.
verb
-
(may take a clause as object) to prove to be true or valid; corroborate; verify
-
(may take a clause as object) to assert for a second or further time, so as to make more definite
he confirmed that he would appear in court
-
to strengthen or make more firm
his story confirmed my doubts
-
to make valid by a formal act or agreement; ratify
-
to administer the rite of confirmation to
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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confirmabilitynoun
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confirmernoun
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unconfirmabilitynoun
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preconfirmverb (used with object)
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reconfirmverb (used with object)
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unconfirmverb (used with object)
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confirmableadjective
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confirmatoryadjective
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nonconfirmingadjective
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confirminglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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confirmsimple
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confirmssimple
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have confirmedperfect
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has confirmedperfect
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am confirmingprogressive
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are confirmingprogressive
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is confirmingprogressive
-
have been confirmingperfect progressive
-
has been confirmingperfect progressive
Past
-
confirmedsimple
-
had confirmedperfect
-
was confirmingprogressive
-
were confirmingprogressive
-
had been confirmingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of confirm
First recorded in 1250–1300; from Latin confirmāre “to strengthen, confirm” ( see con-, firm 1); replacing Middle English confermen, from Old French, from Latin, as above
Explanation
When you need to make sure before you leave that you have a reservation, you often call ahead to confirm, that is, to make sure that your tickets or space are set aside for you. The firm in confirm should give you a clue as to the word's meaning: to shore up or verify something. When you make sure something is set, or firm, you confirm it. The word comes from the Latin con- "together, altogether," and firmāre "make firm," so confirm originally meant roughly "to make (something) altogether firm."
Vocabulary lists containing confirm
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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The SAT: Language of the Test, List 3
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The Language of Standardized Tests, List 2
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
However, they have yet to confirm whether that is the case.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026
A 49ers spokesperson declined to confirm that Herndon’s email was viewed by team officials, citing the ongoing FBI investigation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026
Insurers sent notices asking them to confirm their eligibility before the feds canceled coverage.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
Kirton says it was what police call a "historic case", so forensics and toxicology would not have been able to confirm whether or not this had happened.
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026
In 1532, however, Johannes Vögelin measured the parallax of the comet that appeared in that year and claimed to confirm the erroneous result of pseudo-Regiomontanus.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Rams coach Sean McVay confirms Aaron Donald will play Monday against the New York Giants, but star wide receiver Puka Nacua is listed as questionable.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026
Neither study directly confirms or overturns the original Menin results.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 18, 2026
Revolut confirms customer data breach through fake government requests.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 14, 2026
"But, it really confirms that this was, in a way, a doomed approach," he said.
From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026
The only interesting comment comes from Detective Inspector Gaskill, who confirms that two men are helping the police with their enquiries.
From "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins
There was pomp and ceremony, but little in the way of confirmed progress on key issues.
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026
A spokeswoman for Blackstone confirmed Baratta’s pending departure.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
“We have reviewed the matter and confirmed that AI was used to alter the image in violation of university policy,” Stanford spokesperson Charlene Gage said in an email.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
But at an event on Thursday, Tesla executives confirmed that the company’s Nevada factory will be capable of producing up to 50,000 Semi trucks each year.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 25, 2026
Accurate down to the centimeter, the new instrument confirmed what the other measurements had said: day and night, the bulge steadily grew.
From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone
Ahead of the start of that press tour, Holland finally put an end to weeks of speculation about his marital status, confirming during an interview with Variety that he and Zendaya had married.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026
In settings where testing capacity is scarce, delays in confirming infections can give the virus more time to spread.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2026
"Currently, we are focused on the retrieval, and after that we will proceed with the investigation," she said, confirming the bodies had been found in the ship's economy accommodation area.
From Barron's ● Sep. 12, 2026
The announcement about the next film's producers referred to keeping Bond's spirit alive "as he embarks on his next adventure", seemingly confirming that Bond would remain male.
From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2026
Charles always wondered if first cousins produced sickly children, and now here was his father confirming that concern.
From "Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith" by Deborah Heiligman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
