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
-
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
-
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:
To Barr, the gentle animal is the one living creature to whom he feels safe to confess his secrets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
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
Catholics are supposed to confess our sins privately.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
“There is nothing to do but confess my lack of preparedness to Miss Mortimer,” she thought.
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
Tahereh confesses to having no remorse over her husband.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
“I also grew up watching a lot of telenovelas. They were really formative for me, specifically, the telenovelas on the local Channel 2,” Eimbcke confesses.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 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
Two days before the rendezvous, Maria Isabel confesses the plan to her aunt Gloria.
From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario
The A-lister, who shares his son with Gelila Bekele, whom he was in a relationship with from 2009 to 2020, further confessed that he doesn’t ever plan on getting married.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 5, 2026
Jessep by Mr. Cruise’s character in “A Few Good Men,” which made the pro-military sector of the audience think Jessep had a point even as he confessed his crime.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
Cronje confessed months later and would eventually give public testimony at the King Commission.
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026
When he failed, he confessed to the crime.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
Ambitious men caught glimpses of nobler ambitions than their own, and even worldlings confessed that his beliefs were beautiful and true, although ‘they wouldn’t pay’.
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
“Everyone was applauding and smiling at me,” he says, confessing to having been extremely nervous.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026
Ukrainian intelligence agent Vladyslav Reut says he did not kill Anastasiia Berezovska - a woman suspected of trying to assassinate a multimillionaire in Monaco - despite earlier confessing to it.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 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
Every kid learns the apocryphal story of George Washington chopping down a cherry tree and confessing: “I cannot tell a lie.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
Guilt digs its claws into me, but if I go home, confessing my lie before figuring out some astonishingly clever next steps, I’ll be under total house arrest until I turn eighteen in June.
From "Love, Hate & Other Filters" by Samira Ahmed
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.
