confabulate
Talk informally together
Confabulate means to chat or converse casually: We confabulated over coffee about nothing in particular.
In psychology and neuroscience, confabulate has a technical sense: to fill gaps in memory with fabricated details, believing them to be true.
This isn't lying—the person genuinely believes their invented memories.
After the brain injury, he would confabulate elaborate stories about events that never happened.
Believed but fictional recall
- amnesiaPathological loss of recall
- recallMemory retrieval act
- misrememberRecall something inaccurately
- hippocampusMemory formation region
filling in · reconstruction · dementia · anterograde · retrograde · repression · flashback · delusion
Informal light conversation
- gossipInformal talk spreading rumors
- banterPlayful, teasing exchange
- natterLight, aimless conversation
- chinwagInformal lengthy conversation
schmooze · gabfest · palaver · prattle · yak · jaw · rap · cackle
Create something new
- concoctInvent or devise
- make upFacial beauty products
- falsifyDistort the truth
- fictionalizeRender as invented narrative
embellish · misrepresent · spin · fantasize · mythologize · whopper · tall tale · yarn
Pathological loss of recall
- dementiaChronic cognitive impairment
- Korsakoff syndromeAlcoholic amnesia disorder
- brain injuryDamage to cranial organ
- frontal lobeBrain's decision-making center
cognitive impairment · confabulatory · delirium · encephalopathy · thiamine deficiency · alcoholism · stroke · aneurysm
Stubbornly held false belief
- psychosisSevere reality detachment
- schizophreniaPsychotic disorder with delusions
- dissociationMental separation from surroundings
- hallucinationPerception without external cause
confabulatory · therapy · assessment · malingering · factitious · suggestion · hypnosis · recovered memory
false memory
Believed but fictional recall
- amnesiaPathological loss of recall
- recallMemory retrieval act
- misrememberRecall something inaccurately
hippocampus · filling in · reconstruction · dementia · anterograde · retrograde · repression · flashback · delusion · memory distortion
chitchat
Informal light conversation
- gossipInformal talk spreading rumors
- banterPlayful, teasing exchange
- natterLight, aimless conversation
chinwag · schmooze · gabfest · palaver · prattle · yak · jaw · rap · cackle · kibitz
invent
Create something new
fictionalize · embellish · misrepresent · spin · fantasize · mythologize · whopper · tall tale · yarn · fish story
amnesia
Pathological loss of recall
- dementiaChronic cognitive impairment
- Korsakoff syndromeAlcoholic amnesia disorder
- brain injuryDamage to cranial organ
frontal lobe · cognitive impairment · confabulatory · delirium · encephalopathy · thiamine deficiency · alcoholism · stroke · aneurysm · neuropsychology
delusion
Stubbornly held false belief
- psychosisSevere reality detachment
- schizophreniaPsychotic disorder with delusions
- dissociationMental separation from surroundings
hallucination · confabulatory · therapy · assessment · malingering · factitious · suggestion · hypnosis · recovered memory · forensic
confabulateremember
Retain in mind
tell the truth · recollect · verify · corroborate · document
confabulatelie
Deliberate falsehood
deceive · prevaricate · dissemble · bear false witness · perjure
confabulateremain silent
hold one's tongue · get to the point · lecture · orate · speechify
confabulation, confabulated, confabulations, confabulating, confabulates