confidential communication

American  

noun

Law.

1. a confidential statement made to a lawyer, doctor, or pastor, or to one's spouse, privileged against disclosure in court if the privilege is claimed by the client, patient, penitent, or spouse.

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Etymology

Origin of confidential communication

First recorded in 1790–1800

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

confidential communication

Taken together, these filings depict a system where confidential communication with an attorney is structurally impossible.

From Slate ● Dec. 12, 2025

The existence of a confidential communication channel between Mary and Castelnau was well-known to historians, and even to the English government at the time.

From BBC ● Feb. 8, 2023

He and his lawyers say that his rights to confidential communication and to prepare his defense have been repeatedly violated.

From New York Times ● Sep. 20, 2021

The potential false sense of security is an especially important warning sign for reporters and their sources, who have turned increasingly to encrypted apps for confidential communication as such services have proliferated in recent years.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 18, 2018

Franklin also served with John Jay and Thomas Jefferson upon a committee to interview a mysterious foreigner who had repeatedly expressed a desire to make a confidential communication to Congress.

From Benjamin Franklin; Self-Revealed, Volume II (of 2) A Biographical and Critical Study Based Mainly on his own Writings by Bruce, Wiliam Cabell