confab
5
8.9
- noun
- /kənˈfæb/
- Informal
:
charla
- It's late April in Washington, D.C., at the Global Impact Economy Forum, a two-day State Department confab focused on steering private and public investment toward enterprises that address systemic economic woes across the globe.
- a big confab
- an annual confab
- a little confab
Examples
-
Keep an eye out for RootsCamp, the Progressives' post-election confab.
Blog text (8) -
If I overheard one of my reps using that phrase, I'd call them in for a private confab as soon as the current call was over.
Blog text (21) -
Who are you covering this confab for?
-
Running back to the rest of the fleet for a confab is a massive waste of time.
-
When I was a kid, I was a junior camper at a student government confab in, um, Minneapolis.
Blog text (4) -
Luis and his partner knew Ernie and Ron; that was clear from their close confab at Boots' party.
Fiction book (1990) -
Oliver Peskin and Diane walked over, and we squatted on the floor in whispered confab.
Fiction book (1993) -
The photo was taken on May 6, the night Petraeus spoke at the Washington neoconservative confab, the annual American Enterprise Institute gala, as a recipient of the 2010 Irving Kristol Award.
Blog text (25) -
Organizers of the GOP's nominating convention in Tampa have boasted that this year's confab is "the most ethnically diverse GOP convention ever," including speakers and delegates.
Blog text (4) -
Yesterday, I enjoyed a pleasant confab with my friends at the café.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
A talk between two or more people to share news and ideas
∞
5.6
A short talk between people
947
1.0
A discussion where people share ideas or feelings
312
1.0
A friendly, informal talk between people
65
2.1
Polite short talk about simple topics like the weather
28
2.0
Friendly, light talk about unimportant things
12
7.1
A short friendly talk between people
9
2.8
Short friendly talk about unimportant things
4
9.1
A short informal talk between people
4
8.7
A friendly informal talk to make people like you and build contacts
1
2.3
A short informal talk to share or clear up something
1
7.9
A casual group conversation without a set topic
1
8.4
A friendly relaxed chat between people, often over coffee
1
9.5
Light talk between people with little meaning
1
8.2
A long friendly talk that people use to persuade or catch up
An informal chat between people
A friendly, informal talk about personal news
A conversation between two or more people
Antonyms
How Formal
- Formal
∞
2.0
∞
1.4
∞
1.0
- Informal
5
8.9
- Informal
312
1.0
- Informal
7
3.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
confab = confabulate + confabulation (semi-transparent) = confabulate + confabulation
A colloquial clipping of 'confabulate'/'confabulation' that preserves the conversational meaning but is informal and the full-form base is relatively rare, so the relation may not be obvious to all learners.
Etymology
The word confab is short for confabulation, from the Latin parts com- meaning 'with' and fabula meaning 'story' or 'talk'. So a confab is literally 'talking together', which is why it means a small, informal, often private conversation.