Nominal Forms
Infinitive: to confess
Participle: confessed
Gerund: confessing
Indicative
Present
| I | confess |
| you | confess |
| he;she;it | confesses |
| we | confess |
| you | confess |
| they | confess |
Perfect
| I | have confessed |
| you | have confessed |
| he;she;it | has confessed |
| we | have confessed |
| you | have confessed |
| they | have confessed |
Past
| I | confessed |
| you | confessed |
| he;she;it | confessed |
| we | confessed |
| you | confessed |
| they | confessed |
Pluperfect
| I | had confessed |
| you | had confessed |
| he;she;it | had confessed |
| we | had confessed |
| you | had confessed |
| they | had confessed |
Future
| I | will confess |
| you | will confess |
| he;she;it | will confess |
| we | will confess |
| you | will confess |
| they | will confess |
Future Perfect
| I | will have confessed |
| you | will have confessed |
| he;she;it | will have confessed |
| we | will have confessed |
| you | will have confessed |
| they | will have confessed |
Subjunctive
Present
| I | confess |
| you | confess |
| he;she;it | confess |
| we | confess |
| you | confess |
| they | confess |
Perfect
| I | have confessed |
| you | have confessed |
| he;she;it | have confessed |
| we | have confessed |
| you | have confessed |
| they | have confessed |
Imperfect
| I | confessed |
| you | confessed |
| he;she;it | confessed |
| we | confessed |
| you | confessed |
| they | confessed |
Pluperfect
| I | had confessed |
| you | had confessed |
| he;she;it | had confessed |
| we | had confessed |
| you | had confessed |
| they | had confessed |
Conditional
Present
| I | would confess |
| you | would confess |
| he;she;it | would confess |
| we | would confess |
| you | would confess |
| they | would confess |
Perfect
| I | would have confessed |
| you | would have confessed |
| he;she;it | would have confessed |
| we | would have confessed |
| you | would have confessed |
| they | would have confessed |
Imperative
| you | confess |
| we | Let's confess |
| you | confess |
Verbs conjugated like 'confess'
abash,
abolish,
abroach,
accomplish,
accroach,
address,
admix,
admonish,
ado,
adpress,
affamish,
affix,
alloo,
amass,
ambush,
anguish,
annex,
appeach,
appears,
approach, etc. (List truncated at 20 verbs)
Verbs similar to 'confess'
confesse,
concuss,
confect,
confer,
confuse,
congest,
congress,
contest,
reconfess,
canvass,
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms
- confess under interrogation
- sing, rat out
- to admit to the truth
- acknowledge, admit, assent, avow, beknow, come clean, concede, fess, fess up, front up, make a clean breast, own, own up, shrive, sing, spill one's guts, spill the beans, step forward, talk, tell all, unbosom
- admit
- tell, acknowledge, avow, concede, aver, allow
Antonyms
- to admit to the truth
- abjure, deny, disavow, disclaim, disown, reject
- admit
- deny, disavow, dispute, dissent
Additional Information
Phrasal Verbs
Etymology
1. c.1378, from O.Fr.
confesser, from L.
confessus, pp. of
confiteri "to acknowledge," from
com- "together" +
fatus, pp. of
fateri "to admit," akin to
fari "speak" (see fame). Its original religious sense was of one who avows his religion in spite of persecution but does not suffer martyrdom (cf.
Edward the Confessor, canonized 1161).
2. From Middle English confessen, from Anglo-Norman confesser, from Old French confesser, from Latin confessus (Old French confés), past participle of cōnfiteor (“to confess, admit”) from con- + fateor (“to admit”). Displaced Middle English andetten (“to confess, admit”) (from Old English andettan). Doublet of confiteor.
3. Sense 6 is a semantic loan from Japanese 告(こく)白(はく) (kokuhaku). See: Anglo-Norman '
confesser', Old French '
confesser', Old English '
andettan'.
Sample Sentences
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“ I did expect fair dealing in this matter, I confess, ” said Haley.
(Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
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[...] traveller returns.”[1] [ 1 ] A slightly inaccurate quotation from _Hamlet_, Act III, scene I, lines 369-370. ~~~ A missionary figure among the fugitives in Canada told us that many of the fugitives confessed themselves to have escaped from comparatively kind masters, and that they were induced to brave the perils of escape, in almost every case, by the desperate horror with which they regarded being [...]
(Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
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[...] kind of magic circle, within whose limits no intruders dared to come, and which they never failed to refresh and re-refresh before a spot was dry. This being before breakfast, rather disposed me, I confess, to nausea; but looking attentively at one of the expectorators, I plainly saw that he was young in chewing, and felt inwardly uneasy, himself. A glow of delight came over me at this discovery; and [...]
(American Notes for General Circulation)
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[...] to time to the American ambassadors at foreign courts by the various potentates to whom they were the accredited agents of the Republic; gifts which by the law they are not permitted to retain. I confess that I looked upon this as a very painful exhibition, and one by no means flattering to the national standard of honesty and honour. That can scarcely be a high state of moral feeling which [...]
(American Notes for General Circulation)
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[...] meekest people in any man 's acquaintance: rather inclining to milk and vegetable diet, and bearing anything for a quiet life. So decidedly are amiability and mildness their characteristics, that I confess I look upon that youth who distinguished himself by the slaughter of these inoffensive persons, as a false-hearted brigand, who, pretending to philanthropic motives, was secretly influenced only by [...]
(American Notes for General Circulation)
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“ You would think no harm in a child's caressing a large dog, even if he was black; but a creature that can think, and reason, and feel, and is immortal, you shudder at; confess it, cousin. I know the feeling among some of you northerners well enough. Not that there is a particle of virtue in our not having it; but custom with us does what Christianity ought to [...]
(Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
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[...] a place suggests to dishonest minds, is not weakened. But it very rarely happens that the men who do desert, are happy or contented afterwards; and many instances have been known in which they have confessed their grievous disappointment, and their earnest desire to return to their old service if they could but be assured of pardon, or lenient treatment. Many of their comrades, notwithstanding, do the [...]
(American Notes for General Circulation)
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This is well enough, but nevertheless I cannot, I confess, incline towards the Shakers; view them with much favour, or extend towards them any very lenient construction. I so abhor, and from my soul detest that bad spirit, no matter by what class or sect [...]
(American Notes for General Circulation)
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[...] fellow-mortals even to hear described. Miss Ophelia had a good, strong, practical deal of resolution; and she went through all the disgusting details with heroic thoroughness, though, it must be confessed, with no very gracious air,—for endurance was the utmost to which her principles could bring her. When she saw, on the back and shoulders of the child, great welts and calloused spots, ineffaceable [...]
(Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
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Topsy now confessed to the gloves, but still persisted in denying the ribbon.
(Uncle Tom’s Cabin)