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

This wasn’t the time to fess up that something horribly wrong was happening.

From Salon • Sep. 30, 2024

And it’s time to fess up: I’m not a Seattle native.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 30, 2023

Then Mr. Porter waited, hoping someone would fess up to writing it.

From "Thirteen Reasons Why" by Jay Asher