to profess
- verb
- /prəˈfɛs/
- One of the governor's servants falls in love with Arang and professes his love to her.
- profess to love
- profess a belief
- profess to know
So they don't all profess innocence.
- So they don't all profess innocence.
- So they don't know the doctrine which they themselves profess.
- It is completely out of sync with the values that we profess.
- And now Joey is just professing his love for hanging out in dumpsters.
- And then the decision is to, in spite of that, go and stand under Juliet's balcony and profess his love.
- A Jeeves like magician who professes to be able to make the wildest dreams of some of the richest people in the world come true.
- There are a lot of people who profess to know more or be better connected or have more seniority than they, you know, than they really do.
- I mean, while it was a band that professed solidarity in our music, we were never able to manifest it almost from day one within, within our own ranks.
- It's not enough that the woman professes her love.
- Maybe a child, but I don't profess to regress to childhood.
- I profess to have no secrets other than don't quit.
- It was a laptop video and I'm like professing my love for archaic desktop computers.
- And I'm not AI never profess to be somebody who deals in, you know, heavy duty plot.
Examples
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It's not enough that the woman professes her love.
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OK, this is an important thing that college doesn't even profess or claim to teach.
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And in this book you profess that this is the truth of the world as we have it.
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We are proud to profess it.
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Especially since these people professed belief in the same God.
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PNP leaders continue to profess their basic commitment to a reduction of poverty and inequality.
Academic text (1992) -
They profess to know God but deceive Him by deeds all the while.
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Many times we hear or read this philosophy professed, but we don't always see it implemented.
Academic text (1993) -
But then he does this massive tour with all this publicity, and now he's publicly, you know, professed his faith.
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He professed his love for her during a romantic dinner.
Synonyms
To officially tell other people or officials about something
To say that something is true without giving proof
To clearly and firmly say your needs or opinions
To officially announce something to the public
To claim to be or do something, often without proof
To say something openly, often in a formal way
Antonyms
How Open
- Formal
Surface Forms
Etymology
Profess comes from Latin parts pro- ('forth') and fateri ('to admit' or 'to say'), so it originally meant 'say something openly'. That's why to profess can mean to declare or claim something in public (like a professor announcing what they know), and sometimes it can be only words rather than true feeling.