confess

[kuhn-fes]

verb (used with object)

1. to acknowledge or avow (a fault, crime, misdeed, weakness, etc.) by way of revelation.

   Antonyms: conceal

2. to own or admit as true.

   I must confess that I haven't read the book.

   Synonyms: concede, grant
   Antonyms: deny

3. to declare or acknowledge (one's sins), especially to God or a priest in order to obtain absolution.

4. (of a priest) to hear the confession of (a person).

5. to acknowledge one's belief or faith in; declare adherence to.

6. to reveal by circumstances.

verb (used without object)

1. to make confession plead guilty; own.

   to confess to a crime.

2. to make confession of sins, especially to a priest.

3. (of a priest) to hear confession.

confess

/ kənˈfɛs /

verb

1. to make an acknowledgment or admission (of faults, misdeeds, crimes, etc)

2. (tr) to admit or grant to be true; concede

3. Christianity RC Church to declare (one's sins) to God or to a priest as his representative, so as to obtain pardon and absolution

Other Word Forms

• confessable adjective
• confessingly adverb
• half-confessed adjective
• preconfess verb (used with object)
• unconfessed adjective
• unconfessing adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of confess¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of confess¹

C14: from Old French confesser, from Late Latin confessāre, from Latin confessus confessed, from confitērī to admit, from fatērī to acknowledge; related to Latin fārī to speak

Synonym Study

See acknowledge.

Example Sentences

His constant readers understand the character in “A Place on Earth” who confesses that he isn’t sure whether he believes in heaven.

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An attorney for the liquidator confessed to losing a bet that landed him in the piercing chair.

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Mr. Fatafteh confessed to the crime and his DNA was found as implicating evidence.

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Here I have to confess to being dismissive of the most common version of AI doom, in which superintelligent machines do away with humanity.

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In 2024 Mr. Dawkins himself, while in no way confessing religious belief, deplored the increasing influence of Islam in British life and said he counted himself a “cultural Christian.”

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Related Words

• acknowledge 
• assert 
• blurt out 
• concede 
• confide 
• declare 
• disclose 
• divulge 
• profess 
• prove 
• recognize 
• relate 
• reveal