Meaning & use
confectionary
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Meanings
adjectivebefore a nounrare
Having to do with sweets, candy and chocolates and with making them.
Grammar: Comes before a noun: confectionary products. For the sweets themselves, use confectionery.
Patterns
- confectionary products
- confectionary shop
The confectionary section of the market sold candied nuts and toffee.
He trained in confectionary arts at a pastry school.
The factory is famous for its confectionary equipment.
nouncountable or uncountablerare
A variant spelling of confectionery, meaning sweets and chocolates or a shop that sells them.
Grammar: Many editors treat this as a mistake, so use confectionery for the noun.
Patterns
- a confectionary
She opened a small confectionary near the harbor.
The town's confectionary sells hand-made fudge.
Many sweets in the confectionary were wrapped in colored paper.
Word forms
| plural | confectionaries |
|---|
Common combinations
- confectionary shop
- The confectionary shop on the corner smells of caramel.
- confectionary industry
- The confectionary industry relies heavily on sugar.
- confectionary products
- The store stocks confectionary products from several countries.
- confectionary arts
- She studied confectionary arts in Paris.
Synonyms and how they differ
- confectionery
- Confectionery is the standard spelling for sweets and sweet-making, and is the better choice in most writing.
- sweet
- Sweet, as an adjective, describes taste, while confectionary describes the trade or category of candy.
- candy
- Candy is the common American noun for an individual sweet and is much more everyday.
Word family
- confection noun
- a sweet food or elaborate dessert
- confectioner noun
- a person who makes or sells sweets
- confectionery noun
- sweets and chocolates, or a shop selling them
Commonly confused: confectionary or confectionery? confectionary or confessionary?
confectionary vs confectionery
This is the standard form for candy and chocolates and for a candy shop. Use confectionary only if you need the rare adjective.
confectionary vs confessionary
Confessionary is about confession, which is unrelated to sweets despite the similar look.
Practice
The standard noun for sweets and chocolates, as in a shop that sells them, is spelled:
Choose one answer.
Confectionery is the standard noun. Confectionary is mainly a rare adjective, and the other spellings are incorrect.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “confectionary”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.