confess
Verb
Verb Forms: confessed, confessing, confesses
- To admit or acknowledge a fault or crime.
- confess to a punishable or reprehensible deed, usually under pressure
- admit (to a wrongdoing)
- "She confessed that she had taken the money"
- confess to God in the presence of a priest, as in the Catholic faith
- To admit to the truth, particularly in the context of sins or crimes committed.
- To acknowledge faith in; to profess belief in.
- To unburden (oneself) of sins to God or a priest, in order to receive absolution.
- To hear or receive such a confession of sins from.
- To disclose or reveal.
- To profess one's love.
Examples
- He had to CONFESS that his last play was pure luck, not skill.
- I confess that I am a sinner.
- I confess to spray-painting all over that mural!
Origin / Etymology
From Middle English confessen, from Anglo-Norman confesser, from Old French confesser, from Latin confessus (Old French confés), past participle of cōnfiteor (“I confess, I admit”) from con- + fateor (“I admit”). Displaced Middle English andetten (“to confess, admit”) (from Old English andettan). Doublet of confiteor.
Sense 6 is a calque of 告白 (kokuhaku).
Synonyms
concede, fink, profess, squeal, acknowledge, admit, assent, avow, beknow, come clean, confess, fess, fess up, front up, make a clean breast, own, own up, shrive, sing, spill one's guts, spill the beans, step forward, talk, tell all, unbosom
Scrabble Score: 12
confess: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordconfess: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
confess: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary