confess
Americanverb (used with object)
-
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)
-
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
Related Words
See acknowledge.
Other Word Forms
- confessable adjective
- confessingly adverb
- half-confessed adjective
- preconfess verb (used with object)
- unconfessed adjective
- unconfessing adjective
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
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.
“I want to collect one thousand pounds,” I confess.
From Literature
The friends confessed to "staying up past bedtime" to watch their favourite traitor plot her next play.
From BBC
Boone is responsible for tremendous environmental harm but remains unrepentant, even as other apparitions materialize seeking to shame him into confessing his sins.
She says she attended a hearing in which her son's accusers played a recording of him apparently confessing.
From BBC
“I didn’t have a good answer for her,” she confessed.
From Literature
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.
