Question

What does this mean?:
Why it is sometimes important to break the confidence of a friend?

Answer 1

If a friend has told you something in confidence, he/she expects you to keep it secret. If you break that cnfidence, it means you have told someone that secret. Sometimes it's a good idea to keep the secret and sometimes it's not. When do you think it would not be a good idea?

Answer 2

When you break a confidence of a friend, you tell a secret that the friend told you, but told you not to tell anyone else.

You might break this confidence if the person said he was planning to hurt himself or others. It would also be permissible to break the confidence if the person confessed a serious crime to you.