to fess

Examples

• All

• After being caught, he decided to fess up and tell the truth.

• Just be honest and fess up instead of perpetuating the mistrust here.

  Blog text (11)

• And when you a man, you own up and you fess up to the things that you did wrong.

  Podcast P with Paul George

• Be a man and fess up, Ray, Ray, whatever.

• I know, all right, and I'm gonna fess up.

  Annie Oakley (1935)

• Fess up, who was that?

  Next Goal Wins (2023)

• Seemed like he didn't want to fess up to doing something from years ago.

  Blog text (21)

• And, you know, actual, honorable good scientists will always, will always fess up and talk publicly about when they were wrong.

• If it's actually bothering you, you'll want to fess up to it.

  Blog text (13)

• It's all smoke and mirrors, and he really should fess up before fleecing innocent people of their hard-earned dollars.

  Blog text (9)

Synonyms

A

to admit

vsto fess

∞ 2.0

Say that something is true without wanting to

is more casual and hesitant in tone than a plain acknowledgment

C

to confess

vsto fess

576 3.0

To say you did something wrong or illegal

is informal and reluctant, not necessarily about serious crimes

T

to tell the truth

vsto fess

• Informal

48 3.2

To say something that is true even if it is surprising

is more colloquial and hesitant than a straightforward truthful statement

O

to own up

vsto fess

• Informal

38 4.4

Admit that you did something wrong or made a mistake

is informal and hesitant rather than focused on responsibility

O

to own up to

vsto fess

• Informal

33 4.2

To say you did something wrong or embarrassing

is more casual and reluctant rather than stressing responsibility

F

to fess up

vsto fess

• Informal

28 8.0

To say you did something wrong, often after being asked

is informal and reluctant rather than mainly after questioning

M

to make a clean breast of

vsto fess

1 7.5

To tell the whole truth about something wrong you did

is more casual and less full than a complete revelation

Antonyms

D

to deny

∞ 2.0

To say that something is not true

C

to conceal

282 3.7

To hide something so others cannot see or find it

Phrasal Verbs

F

to fess up

• Informal

28 8.0

To say you did something wrong, often after being asked

How Open

to confess

576 3.0

to admit

∞ 2.0

to fess

• Informal

30 8.3

to withhold

210 5.1

to deny

∞ 2.0

Surface Forms

Etymology