confess

[kuhn-fes]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR confess ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

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.

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.

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

Related formscon·fess·a·ble, adjectivecon·fess·ingly, adverbhalf-con·fessed, adjectivepre·con·fess, verb (used with object)un·con·fessed, adjectiveun·con·fess·ing, adjective

Synonyms for confess

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR confess ON THESAURUS.COM

2. grant, concede.

Synonym study

1. See acknowledge.

Antonyms for confess

1. conceal. 2. deny.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for confessed

disclose, reveal, acknowledge, confide, prove, divulge, concede, assert, relate, recognize, profess, declare, blow, attest, avow, snitch, affirm, leak, grant, vent

Examples 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.”
Did Bad Weather Bring Down AirAsia 8501?
Clive Irving
December 29, 2014
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 Ex
Lizzie 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 Ex
Lizzie Crocker
November 28, 2014
Hours later, he confessed to having shot his girlfriend out of jealousy.
The Shocking Death of Miss Honduras
Romina Ruiz-Goiriena
November 19, 2014
He confessed after six hours of questioning, and was convicted despite the fact DNA from the crime scene implicated someone else.
The Myth of the Central Park Five
Edward Conlon
October 19, 2014

Historical Examples of confessed

Percival confessed to his mother that night that he had wronged Uncle Peter.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
He confessed to me that he was apt to go astray when intent on rhyme.
Biographical Sketches
Nathaniel Hawthorne
She was studying her material; and it must be confessed that they startled her not a little.
Ester Ried Yet Speaking
Isabella Alden
What would the knight have said had he confessed to his love for the Lady Maude?
The White Company
Arthur Conan Doyle
It must be confessed (he adds drily) that in England this is a lifelong disqualification.
De Libris: Prose and Verse
Austin Dobson

British Dictionary definitions for confessed

confess

verb (when tr, may take a clause as object)

(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

Derived Formsconfessable, adjective

Word Origin for confess

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

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

Word Origin and History for confessed

adj.

"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.