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
Synonyms for confess
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comSynonym study
Antonyms for confess
Related Words for confessed
disclose, reveal, acknowledge, confide, prove, divulge, concede, assert, relate, recognize, profess, declare, blow, attest, avow, snitch, affirm, leak, grant, ventExamples from the Web for confessed
Contemporary Examples of confessed
As for the search, which will soon resume, Soelisto confessed that “the capability of our equipment is not optimum.”
After lunch one day, Hollande drove her back to her hotel in Limoges (he was headed to Tulle) and confessed his love.
Hell Hath No Fury Like Valerie Trierweiler, the French President’s ExLizzie Crocker
November 28, 2014
Hollande confessed, saying he supported his ex-wife because of his children.
Hell Hath No Fury Like Valerie Trierweiler, the French President’s ExLizzie Crocker
November 28, 2014
Hours later, he confessed to having shot his girlfriend out of jealousy.
He confessed after six hours of questioning, and was convicted despite the fact DNA from the crime scene implicated someone else.
Historical Examples of confessed
Percival confessed to his mother that night that he had wronged Uncle Peter.
The SpendersHarry Leon Wilson
He confessed to me that he was apt to go astray when intent on rhyme.
Biographical SketchesNathaniel Hawthorne
She was studying her material; and it must be confessed that they startled her not a little.
Ester Ried Yet SpeakingIsabella Alden
What would the knight have said had he confessed to his love for the Lady Maude?
The White CompanyArthur Conan Doyle
It must be confessed (he adds drily) that in England this is a lifelong disqualification.
De Libris: Prose and VerseAustin Dobson
confess
- (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
Word Origin for confess
Word Origin and History for confessed
"self-acknowledged," 1560s, past participle adjective from confess.
confess
late 14c., from Old French confesser (transitive and intransitive), from Vulgar Latin *confessare, from Latin confess-, past participle stem of confiteri "to acknowledge," from com- "together" (see com-) + fateri "to admit," akin to fari "speak" (see fame (n.)).
Its original religious sense was of one who avows his religion in spite of persecution or danger but does not suffer martyrdom. Old French confesser thus had a figurative sense of "to harm, hurt, make suffer." Related: Confessed; confessing. An Old English word for it was andettan.