# confess

Pronunciation: say "kuhn-FES" /kənˈfɛs/

## Verb

1. To admit the truth, especially about a sin or crime one has committed.
   - Simple: To admit that you did something wrong, like a crime or a sin.
   - _The defendant refused to confess despite the mounting evidence._
   - _She confessed her mistake to the whole team without making excuses._
2. To disclose or reveal something, especially a feeling or fact previously kept private.
   - Simple: To tell something that you had kept secret or hidden.
   - _He confessed a deep admiration for his rival's early work._
   - _I must confess my complete ignorance of the subject._
3. To acknowledge one's sins to God or to a priest in order to be granted absolution.
   - Simple: To tell your sins to God or a priest so that you can be forgiven.
   - _She knelt to confess her sins before the priest._
   - _Devout parishioners confess regularly throughout the penitential season._
4. To acknowledge faith in or openly profess belief in a doctrine or deity.
   - Simple: To say openly that you believe in something or someone.
   - _The martyrs confessed Christ even under torture._
   - _Converts publicly confess their new faith during the ceremony._
5. To hear and receive a penitent's confession of sins, as a priest does in the sacrament of penance.
   - Simple: To listen as someone tells their sins, the way a priest does.
   - _Father Ramirez confessed the parishioners before the holy day._
   - _Only an ordained priest may confess the faithful in this tradition._
6. To openly declare one's romantic feelings or love for another person.
   - Simple: To tell someone openly that you love them.
   - _In the final episode, the hero confesses to his longtime crush._
   - _She gathered her courage to confess her feelings at the dance._

## Origin

From Middle English confessen, borrowed through Anglo-Norman and Old French confesser, from Latin confessus, the past participle of cōnfiteor ("I confess, I admit"), formed from con- plus fateor ("I admit"). It displaced the older Middle English andetten and is a doublet of confiteor.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/confess (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).