Phrasal verb
fess up
Definition
phrasal verb. to admit that you did something wrong or made a mistake. You use this when you finally tell the truth about something you were hiding.
phrasal verb. to confess or admit to a fault, error, or minor crime; marked informal register, often used in contexts involving social accountability or lighthearted interrogation.
Examples
“Come on, fess up—who ate the last cookie?”
“After the manager found the broken window, the new employee decided to fess up and apologize.”
“Although he initially denied any involvement in the prank, he eventually had to fess up when the security footage was reviewed.”
Examples
simple
“Come on, fess up—who ate the last cookie?”
contextual
“After the manager found the broken window, the new employee decided to fess up and apologize.”
complex
“Although he initially denied any involvement in the prank, he eventually had to fess up when the security footage was reviewed.”
Usage
often used as an imperative or followed by the preposition 'to' and a noun or gerund.
Teaching tip
explain that 'fess' is a clipped form of 'confess'; highlight its informal nature compared to 'admit' or 'confess' to help students with register awareness.
Pitfall
He fessed up his mistake.
He fessed up to his mistake.
when mentioning the specific mistake, the preposition 'to' is required after the phrase.
Etymology
Clipping of confess up.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Phrasal verb
Particles
up
Separability
inseparable
Pattern
fess + up (+ to + object)
Synonyms
Antonyms
Grammar
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/fess-up