confrontation

Rarely con·front·al

[kon-fruhn-tey-shuhn, -fruhn-]

noun

1. an act of confronting.

2. the state of being confronted.

3. a meeting of persons face to face.

4. an open conflict of opposing ideas, forces, etc.

5. a bringing together of ideas, themes, etc., for comparison.

6. Psychology.,  a technique used in group therapy, as in encounter groups, in which one is forced to recognize one's shortcomings and their possible consequences.

confrontation

/ kɒnˈfrʌntmənt, ˌkɒnfrʌnˈteɪʃən /

noun

1. the act or an instance of confronting

2. a situation of mutual hostility between two powers or nations without open warfare

3. a state of conflict between two antagonistic forces, creeds, or ideas etc

Other Word Forms

• nonconfrontation noun
• reconfrontation noun
• confrontational adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of confrontation¹

First recorded in 1625–35; confront + -ation; compare Medieval Latin confrontātiō, French, Middle French confrontation

Example Sentences

He says social media algorithms "prioritise shock, confrontations and adversarial encounters" - or, as many of us know it, "ragebait" - over empathy.

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But hardline expansionist settlers enjoy government support, which some believe is pushing the West Bank towards a dangerous confrontation.

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In reality, the confrontation was captured on video months before.

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The bees' larger size helped them prevail against individual ants in most direct confrontations during the lab study.

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It added that its soldiers "operated to disperse the confrontation".

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Related Words

• battle 
• contest 
• crisis 
• dispute 
• encounter 
• fight 
• meeting 
• showdown 
• strife