confess
Americanverb (used with object)
-
confesses,
present (3rd person singular)
-
confessed,
past participle, past
-
confessing
present participle
-
to acknowledge or avow (a fault, crime, misdeed, weakness, etc.) by way of revelation.
- Antonyms:
- conceal
-
to own or admit as true.
I must confess that I haven't read the book.
- Antonyms:
- deny
-
to declare or acknowledge (one's sins), especially to God or a priest in order to obtain absolution.
-
(of a priest) to hear the confession of (a person).
-
to acknowledge one's belief or faith in; declare adherence to.
-
to reveal by circumstances.
verb (used without object)
-
confesses,
present (3rd person singular)
-
confessed,
past participle, past
-
confessing
present participle
-
to make confession plead guilty; own.
to confess to a crime.
-
to make confession of sins, especially to a priest.
-
(of a priest) to hear confession.
verb
-
to make an acknowledgment or admission (of faults, misdeeds, crimes, etc)
-
(tr) to admit or grant to be true; concede
-
Christianity RC Church to declare (one's sins) to God or to a priest as his representative, so as to obtain pardon and absolution
Synonym Usage
See acknowledge.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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preconfessverb (used with object)
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confessableadjective
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half-confessedadjective
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unconfessedadjective
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unconfessingadjective
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confessinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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confesssimple
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confessessimple
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have confessedperfect
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has confessedperfect
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am confessingprogressive
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are confessingprogressive
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is confessingprogressive
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have been confessingperfect progressive
-
has been confessingperfect progressive
Past
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confessedsimple
-
had confessedperfect
-
was confessingprogressive
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were confessingprogressive
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had been confessingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of confess
1300–50; Middle English confessen < Anglo-French, Old French confesser < Medieval Latin confessāre, verbal derivative of Latin confessus, past participle of confitērī to admit, confess, equivalent to con- con- + -fitērī, combining form of fatērī to admit
Explanation
When you confess, you admit to doing something wrong. You might feel guilty about eating the entire platter of chocolate chip cookies and confess to your mom before she notices. If she presses charges, you would confess to the cookie crime. Confess can be used to describe admitting to committing a crime. If you watch crime shows on TV, you've likely seen detectives trying to get a suspect to confess. Confess can also be used in a religious context. Catholics confess their sins to a priest on a regular basis. Don't confuse the word confess with apology. An apology involves expressing regret about something. When you confess, you're merely owning up to doing it — you might not be sorry.
Vocabulary lists containing confess
"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, Act IV
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Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
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"America"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
But when she does lie, she is compelled to confess, even when the fib is innocuous.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
But if Reut didn't shoot her, why would he confess?
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026
“I love bacon and chicharrónes, but I could never eat pork uterus,” I confess, wincing at our 60” Insignia television screen.
From Salon ● Jun. 15, 2026
The first was that a key witness, one who claimed he had heard Whitton confess to the crime while in prison, had lied to the court about having a criminal record.
From Slate ● Jun. 2, 2026
Galileo had to be made to confess to something.
From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin
“The strange thing is I don’t identify with Scully in the same way I do with other characters that I played for much less time,” Anderson confesses.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
Even at 79 — he’ll hit octogenarian status in December — Kaye confesses he hasn’t slowed down as a collector.
From Salon ● Jul. 29, 2026
He confesses the group would probably have turned around if they hadn't been doing the climb for "such a good cause".
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
Muir confesses that this feature of the market is overlooked by many market players, partly because it’s esoteric and seemingly innocuous.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 2, 2026
Mrs. Washburn confesses that Mr. Washburn has talked of sending his family away.
From "Before We Were Free" by Julia Alvarez
And the silence of the confessed killer—who is now trying to withdraw his guilty plea— adds to the intrigue.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
As family, friends and colleagues dropped by his table to offer congratulations, he confessed that he was eager to get back to the office.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
Price also confessed, “We’re pulling from Bob Dylan, ‘Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid.’
From Salon ● Jul. 14, 2026
Ancelotti confessed that he did not have another player with the same characteristics.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026
Mrs. Olinski confessed that it was her favorite season and told Nadia that she sometimes felt guilty because she thought she ought to prefer spring, with its pledge to make the lilies bloom again.
From "The View From Saturday" by E.L. Konigsburg
By genuinely confessing on the dance floor, Madonna has made a far more moving and crucial “biopic” than any shiny studio film could afford her.
From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2026
Hollywood star Angelina Jolie has put her legendary Los Angeles estate on the market for $29.9 million—nearly two years after confessing that she wanted to leave the U.S. for good and move abroad.
From MarketWatch ● May 19, 2026
Senior Microsoft executives had “failure parties,” confessing their biggest professional mistakes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 8, 2026
After finally confessing to their bosses about these secret missions, they were allowed to continue.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 2, 2026
The poor Wart realised that now he must choose between confessing himself a human, and learning no more of their secrets, or going through with this ordeal to earn his education.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
