as in union
an association of persons, parties, or states for mutual assistance and protection
a confederacy of several small nations who had promised to come to one another's aid if any were attacked
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Recent Examples of confederacy
Long before settlers came to the Americas, there was a confederacy and governance system between three tribes: the Ottawa, the Ojibwe and the Potawatomi.
—
J.m. Banks, Kansas City Star, 25 Oct. 2025
The confederacy of tribes was pressured into ceding lands to the state of New York, and further displaced by ensuing frontier settlement.
—Matthew Smith, The Conversation, 20 Oct. 2025
The clouds are as much a character in Murphy’s work as the cowboys, though the former are unchanged since the Oceti Sakowin first formed their confederacy.
—Casey Cep, New Yorker, 6 Oct. 2025
In the sixteenth century, the nomadic, reindeer-herding Sámi people of what’s now northern Sweden and Finland and the Shawnee of the Ohio Valley in North America, who lived in farming villages organized as a confederacy, didn’t necessarily have much in common.
—Livia Gershon, JSTOR Daily, 30 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for confederacy
J.m. Banks, Kansas City Star, 25 Oct. 2025
The confederacy of tribes was pressured into ceding lands to the state of New York, and further displaced by ensuing frontier settlement.
—Matthew Smith, The Conversation, 20 Oct. 2025
The clouds are as much a character in Murphy’s work as the cowboys, though the former are unchanged since the Oceti Sakowin first formed their confederacy.
—Casey Cep, New Yorker, 6 Oct. 2025
In the sixteenth century, the nomadic, reindeer-herding Sámi people of what’s now northern Sweden and Finland and the Shawnee of the Ohio Valley in North America, who lived in farming villages organized as a confederacy, didn’t necessarily have much in common.
—Livia Gershon, JSTOR Daily, 30 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for confederacy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for confederacy
Noun
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At the time that the strike started, union officials said that the district imposed a cap on healthcare contributions, enforced pay cuts and proposed increasing class sizes.—
Dean Fioresi,
CBS News,
30 Apr. 2026
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The union this week was pushing for a one-time $4,000 bonus for its members, but not a permanent increase.—
Howard Blume,
Los Angeles Times,
30 Apr. 2026
Noun
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But the king is expected to express the highest regard and friendship between the two countries on the 250th anniversary year of independence, creating what the palace called one of the greatest alliances in human history.—
Kathryn Palmer,
USA Today,
29 Apr. 2026
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The deeper the rifts between the United States and Europe over Iran, the greater the chances of weakening the NATO alliance.—
Sudarsan Raghavan,
New Yorker,
28 Apr. 2026
Noun
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But some experts warn that because of MAHA’s diverse coalition and interests, the recent policies won’t necessarily tamp down some of the issues within the movement.—
Mabinty Quarshie,
The Washington Examiner,
26 Apr. 2026
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With a new, major contemporary art museum, Kanal-Pompidou, due to open in November; a coalition regional government that finally formed after 600 days of deadlock; and a competitive 6 percent VAT on art sales that went into effect at the end of 2025, the moment for that experimentation seems ripe.—
Devorah Lauter,
ARTnews.com,
26 Apr. 2026
Noun
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This year, for the first time, all six confederations crowned a women’s continental club champion and competed in the inaugural Women’s Champions Cup.—
Michelle Kaufman
April 27,
Miami Herald,
27 Apr. 2026
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For starters, the team would first need to join a local confederation—likely, the Oceania Football Confederation.—
Cheri Lucas Rowlands,
Longreads,
21 Apr. 2026
Noun
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In an indication of how fraught the situation is with Iran’s participation in the World Cup, representatives from the Iranian soccer federation were denied entry into Canada this week.—
Anne M. Peterson,
Chicago Tribune,
1 May 2026
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Advertisement Economiesuisse, Switzerland’s largest business federation, has also objected to the proposal, warning that limiting immigration could lead to labor shortages especially for healthcare, research and service industries that depend on foreign labor.—
Miranda Jeyaretnam,
Time,
30 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The Spurs announced about an hour before tipoff Sunday that Wembanyama could play in Game 4 of the team’s first-round series against the Portland Trail Blazers after clearing the league’s concussion protocol.—
Anne M. Peterson,
Chicago Tribune,
27 Apr. 2026
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The speed with which some fan confidence in him has eroded was, nevertheless, unprecedented considering no Liverpool manager (or in Slot’s case, head coach) has delivered the league title at the end of their first season since Kenny Dalglish in 1985-86.—
Simon Hughes,
New York Times,
27 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Confederacy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/confederacy. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
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