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Synonyms

self-confessed

American  
[self-kuhn-fest, self-] / ˈsɛlf kənˈfɛst, ˌsɛlf- /

adjective

  1. openly admitting to being a type of person with a particular quality, habit, character, etc..

    He's a self-confessed gambler.
self-confessed British  

adjective

  1. according to one's own testimony or admission

    a self-confessed liar
"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

Etymology

Origin of self-confessed

First recorded in 1915–20

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.

Economist Savvas Savouri is a self-confessed data geek: “I live and breathe numbers,” he says.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 15, 2026

His first post, a self-confessed 'rant' about the Budget, notched up 800,000 clicks on his social media account.

From BBC • Dec. 3, 2025

His carefully rehearsed lines and bookish glasses earned the self-confessed geek the unwelcome nickname of "Robot Jetten" in his early career.

From Barron's • Oct. 29, 2025

The self-confessed teenage nerd was dedicated to weird science as a vocation.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 22, 2025

Why fabricate a tale in which one comes off as a self-confessed dunce?

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis

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.