Confidant
n.kind, calmwarm
What it means
A trusted person with whom private thoughts or information are safely shared.
Reach for it when naming a relationship grounded in discretion and personal trust
Her oldest confidant listened fully before asking whether advice was wanted.
Choose between these
6- playful
sounding board
someone helps test ideas by listening and responding
not when A sounding board need not keep secrets or share emotional closeness.
- everyday
trusted friend
friendship and dependable discretion are both established
not when A trusted friend may know little private information and need not serve as a confidant.
- warm
close companion
shared life and company matter alongside trust
not when Companionship alone does not establish that private matters are confided.
- professional
adviser
guidance is the person's main role
not when An adviser may be paid, formal, and outside the circle of personal trust.
- formal
intimate
a very close associate receives personal confidence
not when Intimate can suggest a romantic or sexual relationship that is not intended.
- literary
keeper of secrets
discretion is the defining quality
not when The phrase feels dramatic and reduces the relationship to secrecy.
Said against
3- stranger
- betrayer
- gossip
It naturally appears in
3- trusted confidant
The director treated her deputy as a trusted confidant, not an automatic supporter.
- close confidant
A close confidant challenged the plan before it became public.
- confidant of
He became a confidant of several artists in the cooperative.
Where this comes from
Confidant is now commonly gender-neutral. Confidante remains a less common feminine spelling.
- merriam-webster, noun sense 1 opens in a new tab · retrieved 2026-07-26
The definition and the example on this page are written here. The dictionaries above ground which meaning is being described, not the wording.