profess
verb (used with object)
to lay claim to, often insincerely; pretend to.
was professing
-
past progressiveof profess.past progressive
Used to describe an ongoing action or continuous state that was happening at a specific time in the past.
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.
The court heard Mr Hussain was becoming "increasingly obsessive" and was "professing his love for her" but showed "anger and frustration".
From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2022
Ruth Snyder, the wife, was professing horror and penitence, calling her paramour a low "jackal."
From Time Magazine Archive
Without scruple—without apology—without much apparent diffidence, Mr. Elton, the lover of Harriet, was professing himself her lover.
From Emma by Jane Austen
In 1847, for example, he suspected his friend Dr. Bowring—his “only friend” in 1842—of using his work to get for himself the consulship at Canton, which he was professing to obtain for Borrow.
From George Borrow The Man and His Books by Edward Thomas
She could not bear to be thought stupid, and yet it did not seem very clever to have lost the bag of which she was professing to take so much care.
From The Eagle's Nest by S. E. Cartwright
