CONFESS

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does confess mean? 

• CONFESS (verb)
  The verb CONFESS has 3 senses:

1. confess to a punishable or reprehensible deed, usually under pressure

2. admit (to a wrongdoing)

3. confess to God in the presence of a priest, as in the Catholic faith

  Familiarity information: CONFESS used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CONFESS (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they confess    ... he / she / it confesses   
Past simple: confessed   
Past participle: confessed   
-ing form: confessing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Confess to a punishable or reprehensible deed, usually under pressure

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

confess; fink; squeal

Hypernyms (to "confess" is one way to...):

acknowledge; admit (declare to be true or admit the existence or reality or truth of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

confession (a written document acknowledging an offense and signed by the guilty party)

confession (an admission of misdeeds or faults)

confessor (someone who confesses (discloses information damaging to themselves))

Sense 2

Meaning:

Admit (to a wrongdoing)

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

concede; confess; profess

Context example:

She confessed that she had taken the money

Hypernyms (to "confess" is one way to...):

acknowledge; admit (declare to be true or admit the existence or reality or truth of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "confess"):

fess up; make a clean breast of; own up (admit or acknowledge a wrongdoing or error)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Derivation:

confession (a written document acknowledging an offense and signed by the guilty party)

confession (an admission of misdeeds or faults)

confessor (someone who confesses (discloses information damaging to themselves))

Sense 3

Meaning:

Confess to God in the presence of a priest, as in the Catholic faith

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "confess" is one way to...):

acknowledge; admit (declare to be true or admit the existence or reality or truth of)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

confession ((Roman Catholic Church) the act of a penitent disclosing his sinfulness before a priest in the sacrament of penance in the hope of absolution)

confessor (a priest who hears confession and gives absolution)

 Context examples 

“Absolutely!” said I. “And now that you have explained it, I confess that I am as amazed as before.”

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It irritated her, but she was ashamed to confess it, and now and then she tried to console herself by buying something pretty, so that Sallie needn't think she had to economize.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

But these glasses do puzzle me, I confess.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“I thought it was rather a short name, yesterday,” I confessed.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

"I confess, he makes me nervous around the children," she said.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

I had endured, he was certain, more than I had confessed to him.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

I confess, however, I added, that this tiny human figure puzzles me.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but I must confess that I am unable to follow you.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“I—I confess I hardly do understand,” she hesitated, a perturbed but not frightened expression in her eyes.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

It is a grievous affair to my poor girls, you must confess.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)