confront meaning

confront means 'to face or deal with a difficult situation or person directly'.

confront :

to face or deal with a problem boldly

Verb

▪ She had to confront her fears.

▪ She had to face her fears.

▪ He confronted the manager about the mistake.

▪ He faced the manager about the mistake.

paraphrasing

▪ face – confront

▪ address – deal with

▪ challenge – confront

▪ handle – deal with

confront

Pronunciation

confront [kənˈfrʌnt]

The stress is on 'front' and sounds like 'kuhn-fruhnt'.

Common phrases and grammar about confront

confront - Common meaning

Verb
to face or deal with a problem boldly

Part of Speech Changes for "confront"

▪ confrontation (noun) – a face-to-face meeting or conflict

▪ confrontational (adjective) – ready to argue or challenge

Common Expressions with "confront"

▪ confront a problem – to deal with a problem directly

▪ confront someone – to challenge or face someone

▪ confront the facts – to accept the truth of a situation

▪ direct confrontation – openly dealing with a conflict

Important examples of confront in TOEIC

Vocabulary examples from the TOEIC test

In TOEIC word questions, confront is usually used to mean to face or deal with someone or something directly.

▪She decided to confront the issue immediately.
▪She chose to deal with the problem right away.

Example of a confusing word: comfort (to soothe)

▪She decided to comfort the issue immediately.
▪She chose to soothe the problem right away.
"Confront" means "to face or deal with a problem or difficult situation directly," and is correctly used in the sentence "She decided to confront the issue immediately." In contrast, "comfort" means "to soothe" or "provide relief," and it is typically used with people, not issues or problems. The sentence "She decided to comfort the issue" is grammatically incorrect and nonsensical, as issues cannot be soothed in the way people can. Therefore, "confront" is the correct choice.

Grammar examples from the TOEIC test

Confront is used as a transitive verb, requiring an object in grammar questions.

▪He will confront his supervisor about the delay.
▪He will face his supervisor to discuss the delay.

confront

Idioms and fixed expressions in TOEIC

confront the issue

means 'to deal with the problem directly' used when addressing challenges in business or personal contexts.

▪They need to confront the issue before it worsens.
▪They need to face the problem before it gets worse.

confront head-on

means 'to face something directly and decisively'.

▪They decided to confront the challenges head-on.
▪They chose to face the challenges directly.

Differences between similar words and confront

confront

,

face

differences

confront implies a more direct or decisive action, while face can be more general.

confront
▪He decided to confront the problem immediately.
▪He chose to deal with the problem right away.
face
▪He decided to face the problem eventually.
▪He chose to deal with the problem later.

confront

,

challenge

differences

confront focuses on dealing with something directly, whereas challenge can imply questioning or trying to overcome it.

confront
▪They had to confront the difficult situation.
▪They needed to question or overcome the difficult situation.
challenge
▪They had to challenge the difficult situation.
▪They needed to question or overcome the difficult situation.

Words with the same origin as confront

The origin of confront

Confront comes from the Latin 'confrontare', which means 'to place face to face'.

Word structure

It has the prefix 'con' (with), root 'front' (face), and no suffix, so confront means 'to place face to face'.

Words with the same origin

The root of confront is 'front' (face). Words with the same root include 'frontline', 'frontier', and 'frontal'.

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