Follow us on Twitter Use our gadget on iGoogle Follow us on Facebook Chat about grammar Search this site
Grammar Lessons | Grammar Tests | Common Grammar Errors | Grammatical Terms | Easily Confused Words | Free Grammar Checker | Search | Contact Us

confident, confidant and confidante - the difference




A confidant is someone to whom private matters are confided. (The words confidant and confidante are interchangeable, but strict grammarians reserve confidant for males and confidante for females.)
Confident relates to being certain or assured. (E.g. I am confident it will rain.)
 

Confident

The word confident is nearly always an adjective. Someone with confidence (i.e. not shy and with self-belief) is described as confident. Being confident also means to be assured or certain of something that is pending.

Examples:

My theory is that if you look confident you can pull off anything - even if you have no clue what you're doing.  (Jessica Alba)

No matter what a woman looks like, if she's confident, she's sexy. (Paris Hilton)
And in rejecting an atheistic other world, I am confident that the Almighty God will be with us.  (President Herbert Hoover)

Confidant

The noun confidant denotes someone to whom private or personal matters are confided (i.e. someone trusted).

Examples:

Finding a confidant can be difficult if you have a hard time placing trust in others.

An Egyptian believed to be a close confidant of Bin Laden has been killed in a drone strike.

Confidante

Most people consider the word confidante to be an alternative spelling of confidant. However, some contest that confidante is the female version of confidant, which they reserve for males. If you know the confidant is a female, I would advise using confidante.

See also:

What are adjectives?
List of easily confused words

We need your help to improve Grammar Monster.

Do you disagree with something on this site?
Do you have any entertaining examples that would improve this site?
Do you have any pictures that would make our site more entertaining?

  Please tell us
  using this form.

Do you have a grammar question?

  You can ask us
  on our grammar forum.

Share Grammar Monster with others.

Delicious Digg Facebook reddit Stumble
Grammar Lessons | Grammar Tests | Common Grammar Errors | Grammatical Terms | Easily Confused Words | Free Grammar Checker | Search | Contact Us