Synonym Chooser

How does the verb confirm contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of confirm are authenticate, corroborate, substantiate, validate, and verify. While all these words mean "to attest to the truth or validity of something," confirm implies the removing of doubts by an authoritative statement or indisputable fact.

confirmed the reports

When is authenticate a more appropriate choice than confirm?

While the synonyms authenticate and confirm are close in meaning, authenticate implies establishing genuineness by adducing legal or official documents or expert opinion.

handwriting experts authenticated the diaries

When is it sensible to use corroborate instead of confirm?

While in some cases nearly identical to confirm, corroborate suggests the strengthening of what is already partly established.

witnesses corroborated his story

When could substantiate be used to replace confirm?

The synonyms substantiate and confirm are sometimes interchangeable, but substantiate implies the offering of evidence that sustains the contention.

the claims have yet to be substantiated

In what contexts can validate take the place of confirm?

The meanings of validate and confirm largely overlap; however, validate implies establishing validity by authoritative affirmation or by factual proof.

validated the hypothesis by experiments

When would verify be a good substitute for confirm?

In some situations, the words verify and confirm are roughly equivalent. However, verify implies the establishing of correspondence of actual facts or details with those proposed or guessed at.

all statements of fact in the article have been verified

Examples Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of confirm Ric Grenell was acting director of national intelligence under Trump, but the Senate never confirmed him. Kathryn Watson, CBS News, 23 Nov. 2024 Third-party testing confirms that the supplement contains the ingredients listed on the label and is free from harmful contaminants. Barbie Cervoni, Health, 23 Nov. 2024 Were he confirmed to run CMS, his job would involve interacting with giants of the industry that have contributed to his wealth. Darius Tahir, NPR, 22 Nov. 2024 The warning came after the US State Department confirmed to CNN that an American citizen had died in Vang Vieng. Lilit Marcus, CNN, 22 Nov. 2024 See all Example Sentences for confirm 
Recent Examples of Synonyms for confirm
Verb
  • Data from the breach, verified by WIRED, includes more than 700,000 usernames and reportedly includes messages from 221 public and 395 private chat servers.
    Dhruv Mehrotra, WIRED, 23 Nov. 2024
  • The Enquirer has emailed and called Trump's campaign to verify the claims but has not received a response yet.
    Jolene Almendarez, The Enquirer, 22 Nov. 2024
Verb
  • But every deal that Harvey Weinstein approved gave him profit participation, which Smith couldn’t support.
    Bethy Squires, Vulture, 17 Nov. 2024
  • In the case of Hurricane Helene, the Biden administration approved an emergency declaration for North Carolina on September 26, the same day Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida.
    Jess Craig, Vox, 17 Nov. 2024
Verb
  • Eichner argued that building what zoning allowed would mean a market-rate development — that is, condos.
    Kim Velsey, Curbed, 12 Nov. 2024
  • The political scientist Joseph Nye has argued that these American ideals are a core component of U.S. soft power.
    Daniel W. Drezner, Foreign Affairs, 12 Nov. 2024
Verb
  • To make matters worse, Iran is one of the few remaining nations that have signed but not ratified the Paris Agreement—a landmark deal aimed at limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
    Sanam Mahoozi, Forbes, 22 Nov. 2024
  • With the Bill of Rights now attached to the Constitution, North Carolina ratified the document and became the 12th state.
    The Arizona Republic, The Arizona Republic, 21 Nov. 2024
Verb
  • As President-elect Donald Trump finalizes some high-level roles in his incoming administration, JPMorgan Chase (JPM+1.11%) chief Jamie Dimon is not in the running.
    Rocio Fabbro, Quartz, 14 Nov. 2024
  • Aiming to cut methane emissions from the United States, President Joe Biden’s administration on Tuesday finalized a methane fee for big oil and gas producers.
    Reuters, NBC News, 13 Nov. 2024
Verb
  • When the race for president is over every four years in the U.S., one candidate delivers a victory speech while the other, typically, accepts defeat in a concession speech.
    Anthony Robledo, USA TODAY, 20 Nov. 2024
  • The 159-year-old French retailer will now accept cryptocurrencies through a partnership with Binance Pay and Lyzi.
    Rhonda Richford, WWD, 20 Nov. 2024

Thesaurus Entries Near confirm

Cite this Entry

“Confirm.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/confirm. Accessed 30 Nov. 2024.

More from Merriam-Webster on confirm

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!