Confident
Refers to the feeling of belief that one can rely on themselves, another person, an object.
They my feel this reliance only applies to one specific thing or to multiple things. Just because someone thinks they can rely on someone or something doesn’t mean it’s actually true.
- I was so confident that I could rely on him for everything, I feel so foolish now.
- Are you confident that, that table will hold?
Confident
Also is also being sure that something is true.
- Are you confident about your answer?
- There is so much we don’t know about the ocean, there’s little we can truly be confident about.
Confident
Is also a feeling of being self assured in one’s own abilities or qualities. This is often called self confident or self confidence.
- I really admire her self confidence. I wish I felt so self assured.
- You can do it. Have a little more confidence in yourself.
The noun form of confident is confidence. All of the above definitions apply. In addition to those.
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Confidence
Can also refer to telling a secret to someone under the condition of trust.
- She told him what had happened in confidence.
- Can I trust you to keep my confidence.
All of the definitions of confident refer to believing in someone, something or yourself. There is another word that often gets confused with confident, and that’s confidant.
While the words have different meanings at times their definitions can go hand in hand. Let’s explore the definition of confidant.
Confidant
Is a person who someone shares a secret with. When they share this information they expect that the person will not share their secret. The most common kinds of confidants are a best friend, spouse, or a close family member.
This is someone that one would trust with their deepest darkest secret. The previous examples would be of someone who is the regular confidant of a person.
There are times, when one may only trust a person with one secret, and does not share other things with this person.
- My husband is my confidant in all matters.
- She was my confidant, I can’t believe she shared what I told her.
Confident vs Confidant
If it’s not already clear. Confident is the belief in something or someone, while confidant is someone that you can share secrets with, knowing that they won’t share them. You can be confident in your confidant.
Collocations with Confident
Here are some common collocations with the word confident in them.
Extremely confident/Very confident
Refer to someone being more than just a little confident about something. It a strong belief in someone or something.
- I am extremely confident in our chances of placing in the competition.
- You seem very confident in your ability to win the prize.
Absolutely Confident/Fully Confident/Completely Confident/Entirely Confident
Means that someone feels that something is 100 percent true or that there is a 100 percent chance that something will happen.
- I am absolutely confident that the police will solve this case
- Are you entirely confident that you want to marry him?
Fairly Confident/Reasonably Confident/Pretty Confident
Refers to someone believing that something is more likely than not true, or that they believe something is more likely than not to happen.
- I’m fairly confident that your car will pass inspection.
- I’m reasonably confident that he’s the killer.
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Synonyms for Confident
Self -assured
Refers to someone believing in themselves; self confidence.
- He is a very self- assured young man.
Assured
Means that someone is confident in something being true, or that someone or something is capable of something.
- I have been assured that the decorator will be finished on time.
Poised
Refers to someone appearing to be self- assured and composed.
- For such a young girl it was incredible how poised she was under pressure.
Optimistic
Speaks to someone being hopeful and confident about the future.
- After the company signed the deal to be put into department stores, it’s future looked very optimistic.
Hopeful
Refers to a person likely or hoping to succeed at something. It can also mean to feel inspired or optimistic about a specific event in the future, or about the future in general.
- I’m hopeful that she’ll be a good influence on you.
Sanguine
Refers to someone being optimistic about the future, especially when someone is in a difficult or bad situation. When someone is sanguine, they are optimistic in the face of adversity.
- Even after so much financial difficulty, he was still sanguine, and believed he could turn it around.
