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
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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
-
have been confessingperfect progressive
-
has been confessingperfect progressive
Past
-
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:
Uden didn't confess until five years later, in 2025, when he was having cancer treatment himself - for bowel cancer.
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026
People in prison confess to crimes, regardless of innocence, for any manner of reasons: because they are coerced, because their memories are unclear, to curry favor, for attention.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
One of the purported motivations for “Juiced” was getting Simpson to confess to the murders on camera, though the proviso going in was that no one could bring them up.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
Catholics are supposed to confess our sins privately.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
Had Magic asked him about most any of the other items that filled the rooms, Duane would have had to confess that he didn’t know what they were.
From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el
And in the next beat, she confesses that she misses them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2026
"I'm a physics teacher and I've got a terrible sense of humour," he confesses, so he particularly likes it if the students pick up on his fondness for corny puns.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
He confesses to catching one game—a victory for Spain—in a ramshackle café in a Galician village.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 4, 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
If one confesses and the other doesn’t, the one who confesses will be rewarded by being let go, while the other one will get a five-year term.
From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos
“Even though I talk well, it causes me great anxiety to go up in front of the City Commission,” she confessed.
From Slate ● Oct. 28, 2026
Paris St-Germain manager Luis Enrique confessed he is "bored of the Ballon d’Or" - although with a record 10 PSG players on the shortlist, perhaps he wishes to keep out of the debate.
From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026
“If I had to do it all over again, I’d probably choose to play tennis instead of baseball,” confessed Cascione, who was twice named State West Conference coach of the year in baseball.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 18, 2026
"I don't take the subway anymore to the big games," he confessed to reporters, but recalled riding the train regularly while growing up -- noting he always paid his fare.
From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2026
One time I confessed this to Granny, and she told me that I shouldn’t take everything so personally.
From "Louisiana's Way Home" by Kate DiCamillo
Sigmund Freud famously asked, “What does a woman want,” while confessing that he hadn’t the faintest idea.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
“Everyone was applauding and smiling at me,” he says, confessing to having been extremely nervous.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026
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
Meanwhile, Sumsub, which sells services to counter fraud, polled 2,000 UK dating app users and found another culprit, with 54% of the poll respondents confessing to using AI to spice up their own online profile.
From BBC ● May 21, 2026
“Papa’s just confessing what he thinks are our strengths.”
From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez
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