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profess

[pruh-fes]

Example Sentences Origin

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verb (used with object)

to lay claim to, often insincerely; pretend to: He professed extreme regret.

to declare openly; announce or affirm; avow or acknowledge: to profess one's satisfaction.

to affirm faith in or allegiance to (a religion, God, etc.).

to declare oneself skilled or expert in; claim to have knowledge of; make (a thing) one's profession or business.

to teach as a professor: She professes comparative literature.

EXPAND

to receive or admit into a religious order.

COLLAPSE

verb (used without object)

to make a profession, avowal, or declaration.

to take the vows of a religious order.

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Profess is one of our favorite verbs.

So is kibitz. Does it mean:

to introduce subtleties into or argue subtly about.

chat, to converse

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Origin:
1400–50; late Middle English; back formation from professed

Related forms

pre·pro·fess, verb (used with object)

un·pro·fess·ing, adjective

Synonyms
1. claim, allege, purport, avow.

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

Example Sentences

It so happens that some philosophers entertain and profess certain ideas that compel them to lead a certain way of life.

It doesn't seem to matter what the faith, so long as our leaders profess some religion, any religion.

Firms profess to be unworried by recession, since whisky they make now cannot be sold for years anyway.

EXPAND

It so happens that some philosophers entertain and profess certain ideas that compel them to lead a certain way of life.

It doesn't seem to matter what the faith, so long as our leaders profess some religion, any religion.

Firms profess to be unworried by recession, since whisky they make now cannot be sold for years anyway.

Even, a profess volcanologist could not answer exactly.

If he did not profess a faith of any kind it does not refute his findings.

Fox encouraged her to use an exotic accent and profess her interest in mysticism and the occult.

The leaders, however, profess to be satisfied with present conditions and claim that ultimate victory will be theirs.

Tenure has proved to be an imperfect shield, notwithstanding what administrations profess to guarantee.

The four established parties profess to be unconcerned about this new rival.

It bothers me when people profess to believe in a scientific theory.

The people profess to be much gratified at the prospect of this work of development.

From economic policy to immigration, the prime minister is under relentless criticism from the people who profess to back him.

We don't get angry when people profess low ideals and behave better.

It's unlikely we'll hear any candidate for high office publicly profess agnosticism, much less atheism.

He scorns poverty experts who profess to know more about the subject than the people who live it.

And both profess roughly the same basic motive: to improve the chances of poor children.

Even people who profess not to care much for organised labour say they voted against the legislation.

People profess distrust of the government, but routinely demand services from it.

It does not profess to examine every issue exhaustively.

There is nobody in the commonwealth of learning who does not profess himself a lover of truth:.

Many people profess to be psychic, and some make great claims for their discipline.

Those few friends of the couple willing to speak publicly about their relationship profess that it seemed fine to them.

Workers say they no longer fear for their jobs and profess amazement at being consulted over company decisions.

We only trot out the accusations of hypocrisy when people profess an ideal and don't live up to.

They have marched pompous gentlemen up to her and had them profess their ardent love.

Both profess an inability to understand why the other is running.

The ridicule is that they would profess to reading a bible.

Most whites and many blacks are more quick to shoot blacks, no matter how egalitarian they profess to.

But equally absurd are the people who profess not to understand what has been going.

Steinbrenner, all the while continuing to profess in public that nothing official had been.

Tavernier sets the film in an environment that is intensely political though the characters profess not to be.

Most folks who profess opinions such as yourselves have no problem with this.

Both police and military profess to view the situation with equanimity.

Not to mention the great many who profess a total disinterest in the election, seeing it as a futile exercise.

The former wittingly or unwittingly profess nihilism.

For starters, many people profess to have coulrophobia, the fear of clowns.

Some places profess so much difficulty that they have concluded the administrative costs outweigh the benefits.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

profess (prəˈfɛs)

—vb
1.	to affirm or announce (something, such as faith); acknowledge: to profess ignorance; to profess a belief in God
2.	(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
3.	to receive or be received into a religious order, as by taking vows

[C14: from Latin prōfitērī to confess openly, from pro-¹ + fatērī to confess]

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

profess

early 14c., "to take a vow" (in a religious order), from O.Fr. profes, from L. professus "having declared publicly," pp. of profitieri "declare openly," from pro- "forth" + fateri (pp. fassus) "acknowledge, confess." Meaning "declare openly" first recorded 1520s.

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Related Words

consubstantiate fortune pretend

pretend purport

Matching Quote

"Cows are amongst the gentlest of breathing creatures; none show more passionate tenderness to their young when deprived of them; and, in short, I am not ashamed to profess a deep love for these quiet creatures."

-Thomas De Quincey

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