confess

verb

con·​fess kən-ˈfes 

confessed; confessing; confesses

transitive verb

1

: to tell or make known (something, such as something wrong or damaging to oneself) : admit

he confessed his guilt

2

a

: to acknowledge (sin) to God or to a priest

b

: to receive the confession of (a penitent)

3

: to declare faith in or adherence to : profess

4

: to give evidence of

Breeze, bird, and flower confess the hour …

—Sir Walter Scott

intransitive verb

1

a

: to disclose one's faults

specifically : to unburden one's sins or the state of one's conscience to God or to a priest

b

: to hear a confession

2

: admit, own

confess to a crime

confessable

kən-ˈfe-sə-bəl 

adjective

Synonyms

• admit
• cop (to) [slang]
• fess (up)
• own (up)

Choose the Right Synonym for confess

acknowledge, admit, own, avow, confess mean to disclose against one's will or inclination.

acknowledge implies the disclosing of something that has been or might be concealed.

acknowledged an earlier peccadillo

admit implies reluctance to disclose, grant, or concede and refers usually to facts rather than their implications.

admitted the project was over budget

own implies acknowledging something in close relation to oneself.

must own I know little about computers

avow implies boldly declaring, often in the face of hostility, what one might be expected to be silent about.

avowed that he was a revolutionary

confess may apply to an admission of a weakness, failure, omission, or guilt.

confessed a weakness for sweets

Examples of confess in a Sentence

He confessed after being questioned for many hours.

He willingly confessed his crime.

I have to confess that I was afraid at first.

I confessed my sins to the priest.

Recent Examples on the Web

The 1970s American serial killer, rapist and necrophiliac Ted Bundy—who confessed to at least 30 murders—was the talk of the town long after his execution in 1989. —Mark Travers, Forbes, 27 Dec. 2024

Despite his workload, Abrams confessed Thursday that leaving his daily television show won't be easy. —Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, arkansasonline.com, 27 Dec. 2024

And then there was Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who confessed to depositing a dead bear cub in Central Park and who was said to have used a chain saw to decapitate a dead whale. —Emily Anthes, New York Times, 25 Dec. 2024

Investigators considered the theory that JonBenét may have been killed by an intruder, and over the years, looked at other persons of interest, including a neighbor who played Santa Claus and at least two people who confessed to the murder. —Erin Moriarty, CBS News, 20 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English confessen "to admit, confess, (of a priest) hear a confession," borrowed from Anglo-French confesser (also continental Old French), derivative of confés "confessed, shriven," going back to Latin confessus, past participle of confiteor, confitērī "to admit (a fact, the truth of a statement or charge), reveal," from con- con- + fateor, fatērī "to accept as true, acknowledge, profess," probably a verbal derivative based on Indo-European *b^hh₂-to- "spoken" or *b^hh₂-t- "who speaks," from the verbal base *b^heh₂- "speak, say," whence also Latin for, fārī "to speak, say" — more at ban entry 1

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Kids Definition

confess

verb

con·​fess kən-ˈfes 

1

: to make known (as something wrong)

2

a

: to admit one's sins to God or to a priest

b

: to hear the confession of

the priest confessed the penitents

Legal Definition

confess

transitive verb

con·​fess kən-ˈfes 

: to admit (as a charge or allegation) as true, proven, or valid

unless you answer, the petition shall be taken as confessed

intransitive verb

: to make a confession

confessor

kən-ˈfe-sər 

noun