confide
/kənˈfʌɪd
/verb [reporting verb]
1Tell someone about a secret or private matter while trusting them not to repeat it to others: [with object]: he confided his fears to his mother [with clause]: he confided that stress had caused him to lose a stone in weight [with direct speech]: ‘I have been afraid,’ she confided (as adjective confiding) she was in a confiding mood...
- Among friends again, we may be happy to confide our innermost secrets, but when it comes to revealing how much we earn or save, most of us are less forthcoming.
- The Hollywood actress has been calling her ex while he is on tour and has spent hours confiding her secrets and emotions to him
- As one parent of a child in private education confides: ‘It's just that we want them to be with people like us.’
Synonyms
reveal, disclose, divulge, leak, lay bare, make known, betray, impart, pass on, proclaim, announce, report, declare, intimate, uncover, unmask, expose, bring out into the open, unfold, vouchsafe, tell;
confess, admit;
let slip, let out, let drop, let fall, blurt out, babble, give away
informal blab, spill
archaic discover
1.1 [no object] (confide in) Trust (someone) enough to tell them of a secret or private matter: [with clause]: he confided in friends that he and his wife planned to separate...
- I kinda wish she'd just confide in me, since I ended up trusting her enough to confide in her.
- Not only will people not trust you, confide in you or believe you - they might ditch you.
- I would urge her to seek help and confide in somebody she trusts.
Synonyms
open one's heart to, unburden oneself to, unbosom oneself to, confess to, tell all to, tell one's all to, commune with
1.2 [with object] (confide something to) dated Entrust something to (someone) in order for them to look after it: the property of others confided to their care was unjustifiably risked...
- He accordingly confided his estate to a trustee and gave him unusual powers.
- Later on, when his younger brother reached the age where he, too, had to earn his living and five hectares were not enough to support two families, he confided the estate to his brother and created a negociant business.
Derivatives
confidingly
/ adverb ...- ‘You must have a conservative in your family - an uncle or someone,’ he said confidingly.
- ‘It's so nice to meet a kindred spirit,’ she whispered confidingly.
- She sighed, seemed to gather her thoughts together, and leaned confidingly across the table to pat Elise's hand.
Origin
Late Middle English (in the sense 'place trust (in')): from Latin confidere 'have full trust'. The sense 'impart as a secret' dates from the mid 18th century.
faith from Middle English:
Both faith and fidelity (Late Middle English) come from the Latin word fides. Fido, a traditional name for a dog, is also related—it represents the Latin for ‘I trust’. Other words from the same source include confident (late 16th century), confide (Late Middle English), and diffident (Late Middle English) which originally meant ‘lacking in trust’. Fiancée, the French for ‘promised’, which goes back to fides is related. See also infidel