confrontal

plural confrontals

1. countableuncountableThe act of confronting.

   By the constant encounters and confrontals of these Tests of the Golden Keys he is continuously “tried in the Fire” of the Ek-Klesia, which “proves every man’s Action, of what sort it is”; […]

   [1921], Holden Edward Sampson, “Lesson Ten: (4) Election, or the State of the Supplicant (continued); (4) ‘The Land of Canaan’ (continued)”, in Theou Sophia: Series Three. In Two Parts; Analytical Lessons in the Wisdom of the Divine Mysteries; Part One: Graduation; The Tests of the Golden Keys, volume 3, London: William Rider & Son, Limited […]; The Ek-Klesia Press […], →OCLC, page 335

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   Traces of Caledonian intrenchments and hill-forts occur so numerously for miles in the neighbourhood, and in such positions of confrontal to Ardoch, as to indicate that the Roman forces made a stiff and prolonged lodgment here, and met a vigorous resistance.

   1860, John M[arius] Wilson, “Greenloaning”, in Nelsons’ Hand-Book to Scotland: For Tourists. […], London; Edinburgh; New York, N.Y.: T[homas] Nelson and Sons, […], page 326, column 1

   The overpowering sense of the sublime, of awful desolation, of transcending marvelousness and unexpectedness, that swept over us, as we reined our horses sharply out of green forests, and stood upon high jutting rock that overlooked this rolling, upheaving sea of granite mountains, holding far down its rough lap this vale of beauty of meadow and grove and river,—such tide of feeling, such stoppage of ordinary emotions comes at rare intervals in any life. It was the confrontal of God face to face, as in great danger, in solemn, sudden death.

   1865 August 11, Samuel Bowles, “Letter XXII. The Yosemite Valley and the Big Trees.”, in Across the Continent: A Summer’s Journey to the Rocky Mountains, the Mormons, and the Pacific States, with Speaker Colfax, Springfield, Mass.: Samuel Bowles & Company; New York, N.Y.: Hurd & Houghton, page 223

   Then the door of the elevator opened and a woman got out whom Marcy immediately recognised. In that moment of confrontal Marcy felt a strange sensation of guilt, as if she had stolen something and was being caught.

   1919, Daniel Carson Goodman, chapter XXV, in The Taker, New York, N.Y.: Boni and Liveright, page 218

   All social defenses are stripped away and the veritable soul of man stands forth, unashamed of its nakedness and unembarrassed for its deformities. Elemental forces are everywhere released. Everywhere they hint at poignant confrontals, so the night wind in the forest becomes an illuminating test of character and conduct.

   1924, Charles B[ert] Reed, “Survivals”, in Four Way Lodge, Chicago, Ill.: Pascal Covici, page 170

   The Americans had proved themselves so eminently battleworthy in their first confrontals with the hard-pressing Germans that [Ferdinand] Foch wanted an American regiment attached to each French division as a stiffening element.

   1961, Richard O’Connor, “Cantigny . . . Belleau Wood . . . Soissons”, in Black Jack Pershing: A Candid Biography of the United States’ Only Six-Star General since George Washington, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Company, Inc., →LCCN, part two (Soldier on the Western Front), page 265

   Synonyms: confrontation

comparative more confrontal · superlative most confrontal

1. That confronts.

   I have been in many of these overly structured and disciplined schools. I have noticed that in these schools of confrontal teaching, teachers and children seemed to be caught in a common grimness.

   1973, Harold B. Gores, “[Schools For Young Children—The Recent American Past] Panelist’s Response”, in Robert H. Anderson, editor, Education in Anticipation of Tomorrow: The Lamplighter Seminar, Worthington, Oh.: Charles A. Jones Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 26

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   “When can I have an answer—I have other offers” (c) is better, if you feel confrontal on a given day; it lets the person know you’re valued. […] This is a question that you must answer in terms of your immediate reaction: what is your initial response when faced with a confrontal person? When dealing with confrontal people, taking the offensive in some way is the best strategy (b and d).

   1987, Dorothy Leeds, “The Quiz: Part One”, in Smart Questions: A New Strategy for Successful Managers, New York, N.Y.: McGraw-Hill Book Company, →ISBN, part one (The System), pages 20–21

   The sense of abandonment to paint, or of wild painterliness, and of an imagery more fantastic than descriptive – freely transformative of a subject matter rather than transcriptive of its common appearance – and of a certain sense of confrontal alienation: all these are the signs of Expressionism, or rather, in the 80s, of Neo-Expressionism.

   1988, Donald Kuspit, Brian Maguire: An Essay by Donald Kuspit, Dublin: The Douglas Hyde Gallery; Derry: The Orchard Gallery, →ISBN

   Supportive and cognitive psychotherapies are often useful in guiding the elderly alcoholic toward a life without alcohol and as many other drugs as possible. The elderly will respond to confrontal and directive forms of psychotherapy for alcoholism and drug dependence as they do for other psychiatric illnesses.

   1991, Giovanni Caracci, Norman S. Miller, “Alcohol and Drug Addiction in the Elderly”, in Norman S. Miller, editor, Comprehensive Handbook of Drug and Alcohol Addiction, New York, N.Y.: Marcel Dekker, Inc., →ISBN, section II (Special Populations), page 190

   It is most important to note here that Dr. [M. Scott] Peck’s two cases of demonic possession grew directly out of a charismatic Christian religious practice called “deliverance”—a form of confrontal prayer challenge in which the participants (usually a minister and a prayer group), exhort a possibly possessed person to bring forth his demons.

   1992, Robert A[llen] Baker, “Calling All Corpses or Dial ‘D’ for Dead”, in Hidden Memories: Voices and Visions from Within, Buffalo, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, →ISBN, page 201

   Several designs from the fund of Ukrainian folk art occur sporadically, such as Ukrainian confrontal birds, or, for those familiar with twentieth century Pennsylvania German art, Ukrainian distlefinks.

   1993, Thomas E. Graves, “Keeping Ukraine Alive through Death: Ukrainian-American Gravestones as Cultural Markers”, in Richard E. Meyer, editor, Ethnicity and the American Cemetery (Material Culture), Bowling Green, Oh.: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, →ISBN, page 42

   Synonyms: confrontational, confrontative