profess

American  

[pruh-fes] / prəˈfɛs /

verb (used with object)

1. to lay claim to, often insincerely; pretend to.

   He professed extreme regret.

   Synonyms:

   avow, purport, allege, claim

2. to declare openly; announce or affirm; avow or acknowledge.

   to profess one's satisfaction.

3. to affirm faith in or allegiance to (a religion, God, etc.).

4. to declare oneself skilled or expert in; claim to have knowledge of; make (a thing) one's profession or business.

5. to teach as a professor.

   She professes comparative literature.

6. to receive or admit into a religious order.

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verb (used without object)

1. to make a profession, avowal, or declaration.

2. to take the vows of a religious order.

profess British  

/ prəˈfɛs /

verb

1. to affirm or announce (something, such as faith); acknowledge

   to profess ignorance

   to profess a belief in God

2. (tr) to claim (something, such as a feeling or skill, or to be or do something), often insincerely or falsely

   to profess to be a skilled driver

3. to receive or be received into a religious order, as by taking vows

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Other Word Forms

• preprofess
  verb (used with object)
• unprofessing
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of profess

1400–50; late Middle English; back formation from professed

Explanation

To profess is to declare something, often insincerely. Your joy on the last day of school might lead you to profess that you'll truly miss seeing all the people who annoyed you all year. You can profess something and mean it, but more often the verb profess is used when someone lies about their true feelings. You might profess your love of your grandmother's tuna casserole, or profess that you never bite your fingernails, but you're just saying what you think people want to hear. The original meaning of profess described taking religious vows, and came from the Latin word professus, meaning "having declared publicly."

Example Sentences

Profess not thou that any Greek was there To fall on us.

From The Rhesus of Euripedes by Euripedes

Profess to discuss them with Mr. Harper—but let the discussion be all on your side.

From The Talleyrand Maxim by Fletcher, J. S. (Joseph Smith)

Have you got the carving with you, Profess?'

From The Gentle Grafter by Greening, H. C.

Profess yourself the disinterested friend of a man—make him believe that you value his friendship for its own sake and, on that ground, invite him to your home as your honored guest.

From Helen of the Old House by Wright, Harold Bell

Your picked twelve, you'll find, Profess themselves indignant, scandalized At thus being held unable to explain How a superior man who disbelieves May not believe as well: that's Schelling's way!

From Browning's England A Study in English Influences in Browning by Clarke, Helen Archibald

Related Words

• acknowledge
• admit
• affirm
• avow
• confess
• feign
• pretend
• proclaim
• stump