confront

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To deal with a difficult situation or problem directly.

   You must confront your problems instead of ignoring them.

2. 2
   verb

   To face someone in an angry or challenging way, often to accuse them.

   We confronted them with the evidence of the theft.

3. 3
   verb

   If a problem confronts you, you have to deal with it.

   The new manager was confronted by serious financial problems.

Simplified etymology

Confront entered English in the mid-16th century from Latin confrontare. It combines con-, “with,” and frons, front-, “face,” so its literal underlying sense is to be face to face with someone.

From Middle French confronter, borrowed from Medieval Latin cōnfrontāre, from con- + frontem (“front, forehead”).

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary