confide
verbattested in dialogue
- //kənˈfaɪd//
To have confidence in someone. To take (someone) into one's confidence; to speak in secret with.
verb
- 1
archaicTo have confidence in someone. To trust or have faith (in).
I confide in her judgement in this matter.
You can confide in him doing the right thing.
"Be calm, lovely Antonia!" he replied; "no danger in near you: confide in my protection."
I shall do nothing rashly: you know me sufficiently to confide in my prudence and consideration whenever the safety of others is committed to my care.
- 2
To have confidence in someone. To take (someone) into one's confidence; to speak in secret with.
I could no longer keep this secret alone; I had to confide in my brother.
She confided in me about her plan to rob the bank.
- 3
datedTo entrust (something) to the responsibility of someone.
I confide this mission to you alone.
- 4
To say (something) in confidence.
After several drinks, I confided my problems to the barman.
She confided that her marriage had been in trouble for some time.
One student had been so afraid to come out to our meetings that he would secretly meet me in the bookshelves of the library and confide about the miseries of being gay, closeted, and a virgin.
Etymology
From Middle Scots confide, confyde (“to put trust in”), from Latin confīdere (“to put trust in, have confidence in”), from con- (“together”) + fidēre (“to trust”). First attested in English use in the early 17th century. Doublet of faith and fidelity.
Forms
- past tense
- confided
- past participle
- confided
- present participle
- confiding
- third person singular
- confides
confide · To have confidence in someone. To take (someone) into one's confidence; to speak in secret with.
confidence · Self-assurance.confident · Very sure of something; positive.confidential · Kept, or meant to be kept, secret within a certain circle of…