CONFEDERATE

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Confederate mean? 

• CONFEDERATE (noun)
  The noun CONFEDERATE has 3 senses:

1. a supporter of the Confederate States of America

2. someone who assists in a plot

3. a person who joins with another in carrying out some plan (especially an unethical or illegal plan)

  Familiarity information: CONFEDERATE used as a noun is uncommon.

• CONFEDERATE (adjective)
  The adjective CONFEDERATE has 2 senses:

1. of or having to do with the southern Confederacy during the American Civil War

2. united in a confederacy or league

  Familiarity information: CONFEDERATE used as an adjective is rare.

• CONFEDERATE (verb)
  The verb CONFEDERATE has 2 senses:

1. form a group or unite

2. form a confederation with; of nations

  Familiarity information: CONFEDERATE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CONFEDERATE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A supporter of the Confederate States of America

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("Confederate" is a kind of...):

Southerner (an American who lives in the South)

admirer; booster; champion; friend; protagonist; supporter (a person who backs a politician or a team etc.)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "Confederate"):

Confederate soldier (a soldier in the Army of the Confederacy during the American Civil War)

Derivation:

Confederate (of or having to do with the southern Confederacy during the American Civil War)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Someone who assists in a plot

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

collaborator; confederate; henchman; partner in crime

Hypernyms ("confederate" is a kind of...):

accessary; accessory (someone who helps another person commit a crime)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A person who joins with another in carrying out some plan (especially an unethical or illegal plan)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

accomplice; confederate

Hypernyms ("confederate" is a kind of...):

assistant; help; helper; supporter (a person who contributes to the fulfillment of a need or furtherance of an effort or purpose)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "confederate"):

decoy; steerer (a beguiler who leads someone into danger (usually as part of a plot))

Derivation:

confederate (form a confederation with; of nations)

confederate (form a group or unite)

confederate (united in a confederacy or league)

• CONFEDERATE (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of or having to do with the southern Confederacy during the American Civil War

Context example:

Confederate soldiers

Similar:

southern (in or characteristic of a region of the United States south of (approximately) the Mason-Dixon line)

Derivation:

Confederate (a supporter of the Confederate States of America)

Sense 2

Meaning:

United in a confederacy or league

Synonyms:

allied; confederate; confederative

Similar:

united (characterized by unity; being or joined into a single entity)

Derivation:

confederate (a person who joins with another in carrying out some plan (especially an unethical or illegal plan))

• CONFEDERATE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they confederate    ... he / she / it confederates   
Past simple: confederated   
Past participle: confederated   
-ing form: confederating   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Form a group or unite

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

band together; confederate

Context example:

The groups banded together

Hypernyms (to "confederate" is one way to...):

unify; unite (act in concert or unite in a common purpose or belief)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

confederate (a person who joins with another in carrying out some plan (especially an unethical or illegal plan))

confederation (the act of forming an alliance or confederation)

confederation (a union of political organizations)

confederation (the state of being allied or confederated)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Form a confederation with; of nations

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "confederate" is one way to...):

unify; unite (act in concert or unite in a common purpose or belief)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

confederacy (a union of political organizations)

confederate (a person who joins with another in carrying out some plan (especially an unethical or illegal plan))

confederation (the act of forming an alliance or confederation)

confederation (the state of being allied or confederated)

confederative (united in a confederacy or league)

 Context examples 

We will suppose, for argument’s sake, that the household of Wisteria Lodge are confederates in some design.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Having finished their work they made off, and the door was barred behind them by their confederate.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Miss Fairfax, who had seldom spoken before, except among her own confederates, spoke now.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

“If he was his confederate, why should he carry his photograph?” I asked.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

You made some small job in my lady’s room—you and your confederate Cusack—and you managed that he should be the man sent for.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Everybody around her was gay and busy, prosperous and important; each had their object of interest, their part, their dress, their favourite scene, their friends and confederates: all were finding employment in consultations and comparisons, or diversion in the playful conceits they suggested.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

They were admitted by a confederate inside the house.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

They were all confederates in the same unknown crime.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

There he was dogged by his confederate, who held Beppo responsible for the loss of the pearl, and he stabbed him in the scuffle which followed.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

And who could it be who was her confederate?

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)