confession
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
the act of telling the truth about something bad or secret you did.
the voluntary admission of a fault, crime, or secret. Often used with the verb 'make'.
Simple“After hours of questioning, he finally made a full confession to the police.”
In context“The suspect's confession was eventually thrown out of court because the defense proved it had been obtained under extreme duress.”
SynonymsAntonyms - 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
telling your sins to a priest in order to be forgiven.
the ritual disclosure of sins to a priest for the purpose of receiving absolution.
Simple“He went to confession every Saturday to seek peace of mind.”
In context“In many Christian traditions, the seal of confession prohibits a priest from revealing anything discussed during the sacrament.”
Synonyms - 03 C1 Advanced
a formal statement of what a person or a group believes.
a formal statement of religious doctrine or a profession of faith.
Simple“The church members stood to recite their confession of faith together.”
In context“The Augsburg Confession remains one of the most significant documents of the Protestant Reformation, outlining the primary theological tenets of the movement.”
Synonyms - 04 B2 Upper Intermediate
telling someone that you have romantic feelings for them.
the act of professing romantic feelings or love to another person.
Simple“She was nervous before her confession of love, but he felt the same way.”
In context“The protagonist's sudden confession of love at the end of the film provided the emotional resolution the audience had been expecting.”
Synonyms
“He listened to tapes of their confessions in his study.”
“Suspects were tortured into giving false confessions and crime scene evidence was manipulated.”
From Middle English confessioun, from Old French confession, from Latin cōnfessiō, cōnfessiōnem (“confession, acknowledgment, creed or avowal of one's faith”). Displaced native Old English andetnes. Doublet of confessio. Morphologically confess + -ion. Sense 6 is a calque of 告白 (kokuhaku).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.