Confront

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /kənˈfɹʌnt/

Definitions

1. To face or deal with a difficult situation or person directly and without avoidance
2. To meet face-to-face with a challenge or person in a direct manner, or to present opposing evidence or viewpoints to someone
3. To encounter and address a problem or adversary openly, or to challenge someone with conflicting information or accusations

Etymology: The core image is literal: to confront something is, originally, to stand face to face with it. The verb comes from Medieval Latin "cōnfrontāre," built from "con-" (together, with) and "frontem," the Latin word for "forehead" or "front." Two foreheads set against each other is the picture behind the word, and the sense of meeting an opponent head-on is still close to that original notion. It reached English through Middle French "confronter," which carried the same sense of placing one thing directly before another. The modern meanings have stretched beyond physical facing. To confront a person is now to accuse them or to set conflicting evidence before them, so a word once about bringing two faces together now describes a conversation or a dispute as much as a meeting.

Synonyms: face, challenge, oppose, encounter, meet

Antonyms: avoid, shun, escape