confess
to acknowledge or avow (a fault, crime, misdeed, weakness, etc.) by way of revelation.
to own or admit as true: I must confess that I haven't read the book.
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.
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.
Origin of confess
1synonym study For confess
Other words for confess
Opposites for confess
Other words from confess
- con·fess·a·ble, adjective
- con·fess·ingly, adverb
- half-con·fessed, adjective
- pre·con·fess, verb (used with object)
- un·con·fessed, adjective
- un·con·fess·ing, adjective
Words Nearby confess
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use confess in a sentence
Yin Hongzhang confessed to expediting Sinovac’s vaccine certifications in return.
As China nears a coronavirus vaccine, bribery cloud hangs over drugmaker Sinovac | Eva Dou | December 4, 2020 | Washington PostWhen Mahomes was drafted in 2017, Hill confessed this week, he didn’t think much of his would-be partner.
Tyreek Hill once thought Patrick Mahomes was ‘trash.’ Now they’re the NFL’s deadliest duo. | Cindy Boren, Neil Greenberg | December 3, 2020 | Washington PostThe jury was split 10 to 2 on most of the robbery charges and 11 to 1 on the rest, and Edwards — who police said confessed — was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Supreme Court weighs whether its ruling requiring unanimous juries should be applied retroactively | Robert Barnes | December 2, 2020 | Washington PostShe confessed to the police that she had stolen drugs and patients’ property.
She Was Afraid of Her Lawyer. Then the Text Messages Started. | by Samantha Hogan, The Maine Monitor | October 8, 2020 | ProPublica“I never wanted to play guitar,” he confessed at a talk at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in 2015.
I have to confess, I had no idea that Whitney had a rumored gay lover before reading about your role in this movie.
Inside the Lifetime Whitney Houston Movie’s Lesbian Lover Storyline | Kevin Fallon | December 16, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAnd, again, I now confess, I had an occasional Bourbon and stoogie on the cuff.
I will now confess that I spent some time in the lobby of the Willard Hotel myself.
Spitz “persuaded Schwend that his best chance would be to confess his activities with the RSHA and to cooperate with us.”
During their incarceration, they were humiliated and forced to confess on national television.
Iran Court Sentences ‘Happy’ Dancers to 6 months and 91 Lashes | IranWire | September 17, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTWhen the father had finished, he stabbed his wife, telling her to repent of her sins and to confess to God who would pardon her.
Pride forbade him to confess himself a homeless, penniless vagabond.
The Joyous Adventures of Aristide Pujol | William J. LockeIf I were a vain man I should confess that they rather gave themselves away.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3) | Charles James WillsAnd yet the demand has the clearest and strongest basis of natural and eternal justice, as any fair mind must confess.
Glances at Europe | Horace GreeleyAt last even Massna had to confess himself beaten and fall back on Santarem.
Napoleon's Marshals | R. P. Dunn-Pattison
British Dictionary definitions for confess
/ (kənˈfɛs) /
(when intr, often foll by to) to make an acknowledgment or admission (of faults, misdeeds, crimes, etc)
(tr) to admit or grant to be true; concede
Christianity, mainly RC Church to declare (one's sins) to God or to a priest as his representative, so as to obtain pardon and absolution
Origin of confess
1Derived forms of confess
- confessable, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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