avow

American  

[uh-vou] / əˈvaʊ /

verb (used with object)

1. to declare frankly or openly; assert; confess; admit.

   He avowed himself an opponent of all alliances.

   Synonyms:

   profess, own, declare, affirm, acknowledge

   Antonyms:

   repudiate, disavow, deny

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avow British  

/ əˈvaʊd, əˈvaʊ, əˈvaʊɪdlɪ /

verb

1. to state or affirm

2. to admit openly

3. rare law to justify or maintain (some action taken)

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Other Word Forms

• avowable adjective
• avowal noun
• avowed adjective
• avowedly adverb
• avower noun
• reavow verb (used with object)
• unavowable adjective
• unavowableness noun
• unavowably adverb

Etymology

Origin of avow

First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English avowen, from Old French avoue(r), from Latin advocāre; advocate

Example Sentences

U.S. secretary of state John Quincy Adams, however, considered it “more candid as well as more dignified” for the new country “to avow our principles explicitly” than to allow the British to take the lead.

From Textbooks • Dec. 14, 2022

"Instead of trashing volunteerism as inherently elitist, why not avow and attest to its ongoing value as a vital part of necessary diversification and cultural change?"

From Fox News • Oct. 17, 2021

When offered an easy way out — would he at least avow that he hated the Germans? — he declined the invitation and answered only that he loved the French.

From New York Times • Jul. 21, 2020

Dear Having, I often avow that I’m in in favor of honesty and truthfulness, then I find myself sometimes adding “but ...”

From Slate • Dec. 20, 2012

“I avow, Serjeant, we shall commit ourselves wholly to philosophy without a grain of intelligence intermixed.”

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson