Skip to content

confinar

to confine

verb kohn-fee-NAHR Rare

Also means

to border on

Usage Note

Confinar has two related but distinct uses: to restrict a person or group to a limited space (confinar a alguien en una zona), and in its reflexive or geographical use, confinar con means 'to border (on)' a place. The reflexive confinarse ('to shut oneself away') gained wide use in Spain and Latin America during the COVID-19 lockdowns. Do not confuse with contaminar (to contaminate).

Examples

"Las autoridades confinaron a los enfermos."

Natural Translation

The authorities confined the sick.

Explore Spanish by topic