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confess

[kuh

n-fes]

Example Sentences Origin

verb (used with object)

to acknowledge or avow (a fault, crime, misdeed, weakness, etc.) by way of revelation.

to own or admit as true: I must confess that I haven't read the book.

to declare or acknowledge (one's sins), especially to God or a priest in order to obtain absolution.

(of a priest) to hear the confession of (a person).

to acknowledge one's belief or faith in; declare adherence to.

EXPAND

to reveal by circumstances.

COLLAPSE

verb (used without object)

to make confession; plead guilty; own: to confess to a crime.

to make confession of sins, especially to a priest.

(of a priest) to hear confession.

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Confess is always a great word to know.

So is compliment. Does it mean:

to give in charge or trust

expression of praise, commendation, or admiration

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Origin:
1300–50; Middle English confessen < Anglo-French, Old French confesser < Medieval Latin confessāre, verbal derivative of Latin confessus, past participle of confitērī to admit, confess, equivalent to con- con- + -fitērī, combining form of fatērī to admit

Related forms

con·fess·a·ble, adjective

con·fess·ingly, adverb

half-con·fessed, adjective

pre·con·fess, verb (used with object)

un·con·fessed, adjective

EXPAND

un·con·fess·ing, adjective

COLLAPSE

Synonyms
1. See acknowledge. 2. grant, concede.

Antonyms
1. conceal. 2. deny.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To confess

Example Sentences

The problem, he said, was that he was not sure what he was supposed to confess to.

Those who had read it were to confess how much of the exam they had read.

All forecasters will readily confess that their projections are subject to large margins of error.

EXPAND

The problem, he said, was that he was not sure what he was supposed to confess to.

Those who had read it were to confess how much of the exam they had read.

All forecasters will readily confess that their projections are subject to large margins of error.

Zoe is forced to confess and now wonders if she'll ever be free.

The person who acted on the information is too scared to confess it.

Any one of several hundred resistants who recognized him could break down and confess under torture.

But ask them in private, perhaps after a drink or three, and they'll confess that the dark side does have its appeal.

But the hardto-be-answered question whether a penitent can confess and be absolved by telephone is not so easy to settle.

Students who cheated but did not confess may be expelled, the university said last week.

Forcing someone to confess to a crime that everyone knows he could not possibly have committed, on the other hand, is terrifying.

Torture statistics enough and they will confess to anything.

I'll confess at once to wishing it had the cellular modem and camera built-in.

The idea that one can confess to a crime one didn't commit seems bizarre.

He got the former president's son to confess to his part in a drug-smuggling ring.

Then there's the level of what you are really doing, whether you confess to it or not.

His killers will now confess on national television to this and several other notorious murders.

Getting small fry to confess the details may be punishment enough for many of them.

He was about to confess to the waitress that he didn't have any money when a stranger approached him.

They also confess to lacking the nous to find the niche markets their pine requires.

Torture the data long enough, and they will confess to anything.

Yet regulators confess that they would struggle to extend such arrangements to large and complex banks.

I'll confess that licensing journalists makes more sense to me than licensing hairdressers.

People who confess to feeling happy also grin more than others.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

confess (kənˈfɛs)

—vb (when intr, often foll by to)
1.	to make an acknowledgment or admission (of faults, misdeeds, crimes, etc)
2.	(tr) to admit or grant to be true; concede
3.	chiefly Christianity, RC Church to declare (one's sins) to God or to a priest as his representative, so as to obtain pardon and absolution

[C14: from Old French confesser, from Late Latin confessāre, from Latin confessus confessed, from confitērī to admit, from fatērī to acknowledge; related to Latin fārī to speak]

con'fessable

—*adj*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

confess

late 14c., from O.Fr. confesser, from L. confessus, pp. of confiteri "to acknowledge," from com- "together" + fatus, pp. of fateri "to admit," akin to fari "speak" (see fame). Its original religious sense was of one who avows his religion in spite of persecution or danger but

EXPAND

does not suffer martyrdom. Related: Confessed "self-acknowledged" (1560s).

COLLAPSE

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Matching Quote

"Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

-unknown author

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