fess

¹ American  

[fes] / fɛs /

Or fesse

noun

Heraldry.

1. an ordinary in the form of a broad horizontal band across the middle of an escutcheon.

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fess ² American  

[fes] / fɛs /

verb phrase

1. fess up to admit or concede, especially freely.

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fess ³ American  

[fes] / fɛs /

Also fessor

noun

Chiefly South Midland and Southern U.S.

1. a teacher.

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fess British  

/ fɛs /

verb

1. informal to make a confession

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Etymology

Origin of fess¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English fes(se), veece, fesshe, from Old French, ultimately from Latin fascia fascia

Origin of fess²

An Americanism dating back to 1830–40; shortening of confess

Origin of fess³

First recorded in 1905–10; shortening of professor

Example Sentences

The SNP MSP told reporters: "I will freely fess up to things I've done but I will not apologise for things I've not done."

From BBC • Sep. 18, 2025

“I couldn’t find anyone who would fess up to the fact that, ‘Yeah, we had that document in the files.’”

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 28, 2025

Josh: Hey, Melissa, it’s time to fess up to all these garbage thoughts we’ve had recently.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 5, 2024

Despite his repeated attempts to coax Rackstraw to fess up, Colbert was ultimately unsuccessful as Rackstraw continued to deny, deny and deny.

From Salon • Jul. 18, 2022

I overhear Madison telling Brian Li that Lara and Kirsten were actually the first to complete all the clues but didn’t fess up to getting inside information.

From "Amari and the Night Brothers" by B.B. Alston