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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

confabulate en · VERB

Pronunciation

  • /kənˈfæbjʊleɪt/ (General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
  • (US) audio

Etymology

First attested in 1623; borrowed from Latin cōnfābulātus, perfect active participle of cōnfābulor, see -ate (verb-forming suffix).

Meanings

  1. (intransitive) To speak casually with; to chat.
  2. (intransitive) To confer.
  3. (ambitransitive) To fabricate memories in order to fill gaps in one's memory.
    • "It has been well established that the speech areas in the absence of input often confabulate a response." 1991, George P. Prigatano Chairman, Daniel L. Schacter, Awareness of Deficit after Brain Injury: Clinical and Theoretical Issues ...:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
confabulating Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
confabulates Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
confabulated Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
confabulated Tense=Past lexicographic

Deriveds

confab

Relateds

confabulation § Related terms

Synonyms

convo · chat · parley · parley · discourse · common · confabulate · jaw · confab · confab · conversate · treat · converse · discourse · word

Translations (5)

fr confabuler (to fabricate memories in order to fill gaps in one's memory) · bg конфабулирам (to fabricate memories in order to fill gaps in one's memory) · de konfabulieren (to fabricate memories in order to fill gaps in one's memory) · no konfabulere (to fabricate memories in order to fill gaps in one's memory) · es confabular (to fabricate memories in order to fill gaps in one's memory)