Confronting
/kənˈfrʌntɪŋ/
Definitions
2 meaningsTo face, meet, or deal with a person or a situation.
/kənˈfrʌnt/
To deal with or face a difficult situation or person.
She decided to confront her fear of heights by going skydiving.
💡 Simply: Imagine you have a problem, like a grumpy dog that keeps barking. Confronting the dog means you face it directly to solve the problem, instead of avoiding it! It's about dealing with something challenging.
👶 For kids: To face someone or something that is making you feel scared or worried.
More Examples
The police confronted the suspect with the evidence.
The company is confronting challenges in the new market.
How It's Used
"The leaders are confronting the economic crisis."
"He's confronting his fears of public speaking."
Causing you to face something unpleasant or difficult.
/kənˈfrʌntɪŋ/
Causing a difficult or unpleasant situation.
The confronting truth was hard to accept.
💡 Simply: Imagine you see something on the news that's really sad or makes you think hard. That situation might be confronting. It means it forces you to deal with uncomfortable thoughts or feelings.
👶 For kids: Making you feel like you have to face something tough or sad.
More Examples
The images from the war were deeply confronting.
She found the confronting situation overwhelming.
How It's Used
"He found the experience of seeing the poverty confronting."
"The confronting reality of her mistake finally sunk in."
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms
Antonyms
Idioms & expressions
confront the issue head-on
To deal with a problem or situation directly and resolutely.
"Rather than delaying, we decided to confront the issue head-on."
From the French 'confronter', meaning 'to face'. Ultimately from Latin 'confrontare', which means to 'to put face to face'.
Used since the 16th century, initially meaning 'to bring face to face' or 'to challenge', often in a military or judicial context.
Memory tip
Think of 'con' as 'against' and 'front' as the 'face'. Confronting is facing someone or something head-on.
Word Origin
"To put face to face (con- + frons, frontis, face)"