profess
Americanverb (used with object)
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to lay claim to, often insincerely; pretend to.
He professed extreme regret.
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to declare openly; announce or affirm; avow or acknowledge.
to profess one's satisfaction.
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to affirm faith in or allegiance to (a religion, God, etc.).
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to declare oneself skilled or expert in; claim to have knowledge of; make (a thing) one's profession or business.
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to teach as a professor.
She professes comparative literature.
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to receive or admit into a religious order.
verb (used without object)
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to make a profession, avowal, or declaration.
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to take the vows of a religious order.
verb
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to affirm or announce (something, such as faith); acknowledge
to profess ignorance
to profess a belief in God
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(tr) to claim (something, such as a feeling or skill, or to be or do something), often insincerely or falsely
to profess to be a skilled driver
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to receive or be received into a religious order, as by taking vows
Other Word Forms
- preprofess verb (used with object)
- unprofessing adjective
Etymology
Origin of profess
1400–50; late Middle English; back formation from professed
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In Mr. Mian’s travelogue, we meet person after person who professes adherence to Russian Orthodox Christianity, but no one speaks of salvation, sacraments or even Jesus.
I profess no ultimate wisdom but that’s what I’m getting from the comments that they make.
His other passions included football, the tango and the Argentine capital Buenos Aires, a city he professed to love "more than any place else".
From BBC
While reading Catherine profess, “Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same,” one doesn’t need the aid of a film’s visuals.
From Los Angeles Times
Growing up, I was surrounded by revolutionary ideas, banned books and family and friends who professed socialist, nationalist and religious beliefs, or even a mix of these seemingly contradictory ideologies.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
