profess
Americanverb (used with object)
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professes,
present (3rd person singular)
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professed,
past participle, past
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professing
present participle
-
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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professes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
professed,
past participle, past
-
professing
present participle
-
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
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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professsimple
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professessimple
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have professedperfect
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has professedperfect
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am professingprogressive
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are professingprogressive
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is professingprogressive
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have been professingperfect progressive
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has been professingperfect progressive
Past
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professedsimple
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had professedperfect
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was professingprogressive
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were professingprogressive
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had been professingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of profess
1400–50; late Middle English; back formation from professed
Explanation
To profess is to declare something, often insincerely. Your joy on the last day of school might lead you to profess that you'll truly miss seeing all the people who annoyed you all year. You can profess something and mean it, but more often the verb profess is used when someone lies about their true feelings. You might profess your love of your grandmother's tuna casserole, or profess that you never bite your fingernails, but you're just saying what you think people want to hear. The original meaning of profess described taking religious vows, and came from the Latin word professus, meaning "having declared publicly."
Vocabulary lists containing profess
Words That Could Go Either Way: Synonyms for "Maybe"
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"Shooting an Elephant" by George Orwell
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The Taming of the Shrew
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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.
See Examples For:
He continues to profess his confidence that Newey and Honda will eventually produce the best car and engine.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
“We profess to be the best in the world in this sport,” U.S. general manager Michael Hill said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 12, 2026
Both Melling and Lighton profess gratitude that a star of Skarsgård’s profile wanted to be part of “Pillion.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 4, 2026
The two profess their love for each other.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2025
In regarding my Work, some Readers profess greater Feeling for what it makes than for what it says.
From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck
Yet it simultaneously professes anxiety about an Asian American who has decidedly not stood apart from American institutions and culture: After graduating from Yale Law School, Wang clerked for two Supreme Court justices.
From Slate ● May 26, 2026
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.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 22, 2026
He professes a love for James Franco, drinking Guinness, thrifting, dancing in random bathrooms and delivering confessions from bed.
From Salon ● Dec. 26, 2025
He leaves, but she runs through the streets to chase Conrad - soundtracked by Taylor Swift's Out of the Woods - and professes her love on his train and says she chooses him.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2025
“I see no enemy to a fortunate issue but in the brow; and that brow professes to say,—‘I can live alone, if self-respect, and circumstances require me so to do.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
McAfee has professed the benefits of unpasteurized milk in public libraries and chiropractor offices.
From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026
Though he professed to not know the mainland scene "very well", he pinpointed animation and small-scale productions as bright spots.
From Barron's ● Jun. 19, 2026
Filmmakers and critics fretted, reasonably, that a Netflix acquisition would kill off the moviegoing experience for good, in light of Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos’ professed antipathy toward theater-exclusive releases.
From Slate ● Feb. 27, 2026
This was not a prospect that filled me with enthusiasm…Tim said Vikram would be expecting my call…When I reached him, Vikram professed to be surprised.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 21, 2026
When you explained what you’d really come to tell me the day I professed my feelings for him, I felt culpable because you’re right: I did lead you on.
From "Odd One Out" by Nic Stone
Back in 2016, Taco Bell introduced its limited-time “quesalupa” to the Canadian market by calling on everyday fans to read scripts professing their love for the product in appropriately cheesy, ’80s-style dating videos.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 2026
Three days later, he recanted that confession and spent the rest of his life professing his innocence, claiming that he was made a patsy for the real assassin, a man he called “Raoul.”
From Slate ● Dec. 1, 2025
"Furthermore, we shall diligently observe the stance adopted by Fenerbahce - an institution professing to uphold 'exemplary moral values' - in response to the reprehensible conduct exhibited by their manager."
From BBC ● Feb. 24, 2025
He began to distance himself from his past activism, professing to be unfamiliar with the anti-discrimination legislation, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported at the time.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 14, 2024
The gratitude that he gave me an edge by professing his love for me in the interview.
From "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins
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.
