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confection

confection

8 3.7
Sweet food like candy or a small cake
  • noun
  • /kənˈfɛkʃən/
translation icon : dulce
  • She savored the rich chocolate confection that melted in her mouth with every bite.
  • chocolate confections
  • sweet confection
  • delicious confections

Examples

  • Maybe you'll end up wanting to pick up some ice cream confections or novelties for yourself.

  • Soft white wheat is preferred for Asian noodles and confections.

    Academic text (1999)
  • A sweet confection has made us unstoppable!

  • Okay, now I'm gonna try one of these little date confections.

  • Sighing, Ginger picked up the silver dessert spoon and applied herself to the confection.

    Blog text (20)
  • At last came the wedding cake, a small white confection dusted with candied violets.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • Her dress lay on a gilt-edged chair in her room, all gauze and silk, a delicate confection.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • So sit back, relax, and enjoy your low calorie popcorn and assorted confections.

  • Unlike cheap candy that clawed and irritated, this confection slipped down the throat and satisfied.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • Summer savored the sticky confection as it melted on her tongue, then mourned its passing.

    Fiction book (1995)

Synonyms

candy
vsconfection
  • US
863 1.0

A small sweet made from sugar, often with chocolate or nuts

is the general term for sweet foods including baked goods and candies
cake
vsconfection
850 1.0

A sweet baked food made from flour, sugar, eggs, and fat

includes smaller confections as well as larger baked goods
cookie
vsconfection
  • US
774 1.0

A small flat sweet baked treat often with chocolate chips or nuts

is the wider category that also includes unbaked candies
pie
vsconfection
696 1.0

A baked pastry with a sweet or savory filling

covers a wider set of sweet items beyond filled baked dishes
dessert
vsconfection
431 1.0

A sweet dish eaten at the end of a meal

is not limited to end of meal use and includes snacks
treat
vsconfection
398 1.0

Something special and enjoyable like ice cream or a nice outing

is more specific, naming sweet foods rather than any pleasant thing
tart
vsconfection
93 1.6

A small open pastry filled with fruit or custard

is broader and includes both filled and plain sweet items
fudge
vsconfection
92 1.0

A soft sweet candy made from sugar and butter

is broader, including both soft sweets and crisp baked treats
pastry
vsconfection
90 1.0

A baked item like a croissant or tart that people often eat with coffee

is the broader sweet food term that also covers candies
candy bar
vsconfection
  • US
71 1.0

A sweet made of chocolate or sugar that you eat as a snack

is broader, covering many shaped sweets beyond bar form
sweet
vsconfection
69 1.0

A small sugary food eaten after a meal

is broader, covering small sugary items and baked desserts
goody
vsconfection
  • UK
62 2.3

A small sweet food people eat for pleasure

is the wider category that also covers ordinary sugary items
caramel
vsconfection
37 1.3

A firm chewy sweet made from cooked sugar and milk

is more general and includes non caramelized sweet items too
kiss
vsconfection
26 4.4

A small sweet candy often made of chocolate and wrapped in foil

is broader, including both tiny morsels and larger sweets
sugar cookie
vsconfection
  • US
9 1.1

A flat sweet cookie made from simple dough often decorated with icing or sugar

includes that baked type but also non baked sugary items
wafer
vsconfection
9 1.7

A very thin crisp cookie often served with desserts

is more general, also covering soft and sticky sweet foods
sweetmeat
vsconfection
  • Archaic
3 8.8

A small sweet food like candy or fruit covered in sugar eaten as a treat

is more general, including both preserved morsels and fresh sweets
French pastry
vsconfection
2 3.2

A sweet baked treat from France often filled with cream or jam

is more general, covering simple and elaborate sweet foods alike
chocolate candy
vsconfection
  • US
1 1.0

A small sweet made with chocolate and eaten as a treat

includes plain sugar sweets as well as those with cocoa
sugar candy
vsconfection
1 1.0

A hard sweet made by boiling sugar and letting it cool

covers those items but also softer or baked sugary foods
sugary snack
vsconfection
1 1.0

A small sweet food high in sugar eaten between meals as a treat

is not limited to snacks and can include meal desserts
candied apple
vsconfection
  • US
1 2.9

An apple covered in a hard layer of sugar and served on a stick

covers that coated item plus many other sweet forms
mint candy
vsconfection
1 1.0

A small sweet with a mint taste that is often hard or chewy

is wider, including many flavours and textures beyond mint
candied fruit
vsconfection
1 2.7

Fruit cooked in sugar syrup and coated in sugar for a sweet treat

is wider and includes both preserved fruit and fresh sweet items
candyfloss
vsconfection
  • UK
1 2.9

A light fluffy sweet made from spun sugar at fairs

is broader, including dense and baked sweet foods too
sweet taffy
vsconfection
  • US
2.7

A chewy candy made from sugar and butter that people pull and stretch

covers that chewy type but also baked and hard sweets
glace
vsconfection
7.7

Fruit or nuts coated in sugar syrup to preserve and sweeten them

is the general sweet food term that also covers plain candies
honey crisp
vsconfection
7.9

A thin hard sweet made with honey that breaks easily

is more general and includes chewy and soft sweet varieties
sweetling
vsconfection
  • Archaic
7.4

A small piece of candy or chocolate

is broader, covering both tiny pieces and larger sweet items

How Sweet

truffle
10 4.3
confection
8 3.7
candy
  • US
863 1.0

Surface Forms

confection singular
confections plural

Morphology

confection = confect (semi-transparent) = con + fect + ion

The base 'confect' is not commonly recognized in modern English, making the noun form less transparent.

Etymology

Confection comes from Latin parts con- 'together' and fect, from facere 'to make', so it originally meant 'something made together'. Sweets are often mixes of sugar and other ingredients, so a confection is a food 'made by mixing', which is why it now means candy or a pastry.