to confess
576
3.0
- verb
- /kənˈfɛs/
:
confesar
- After hours of questioning, the suspect finally confessed to the robbery.
- confess to a crime
- confess to murder
They'll say, look, people just don't confess to crimes they don't commit.
- They'll say, look, people just don't confess to crimes they don't commit.
- And then Christy confessed to the murder of Beryl Evans.
- And it is worth pointing out no one made Gnome confess to puppy snuffing.
- It's hard to imagine why a person would confess to a crime they didn't commit.
- Even George W Bush inadvertently confessing to a war crime somehow seems cute.
- So she really does have a great motive for confessing to that in a public forum.
- I saw the one last interviews you did and the guy was confessing some dark, dark stuff.
Examples
-
Keep in mind, Mr. Sweet confessed one month later.
-
My dearest P, I must confess, I don't know why we're here.
-
OK, I have to confess something to you.
-
Was he just too proud, too concerned for his public image, to confess his problem to anyone?
Academic text (1999) -
Unfortunately for you, you also confess to the crime of fraud.
-
Well, thank you, sir, but I must confess that, this is not entirely a social visit.
-
Looking back, I must confess that I was clueless.
-
And why, now that he has been caught, doesn't he simply confess and give up?
Academic text (1994) -
If Fred does confess, she's still better off.
-
She did not think she had anything to confess.
Synonyms
∞
2.0
Say that something is true without wanting to
146
4.9
To say that something is true even when you do not want to say it
92
4.1
To say the truth about something you kept secret
48
3.2
To say something that is true even if it is surprising
38
4.4
Admit that you did something wrong or made a mistake
33
4.2
To say you did something wrong or embarrassing
30
8.3
To admit that you did something, often reluctantly
28
8.0
To say you did something wrong, often after being asked
1
7.5
To tell the whole truth about something wrong you did
Antonyms
How Open
Surface Forms
Morphology
confess = con + fess
Historically analyzable as con- + fess, but 'fess' is not a standalone or productive English morpheme, so an average B1 learner cannot derive the meaning from the parts.
Etymology
The word confess comes from Latin parts con- ('together' or 'completely') and fateri ('to speak' or 'admit'), so it originally meant 'to speak openly'. Think of it like profess, which shares the same 'fess' root, and that's why to confess is to admit you have done something wrong.