confession

con·fes·sion

noun \kən-ˈfe-shən\

Definition of CONFESSION

1

a : an act of confessing; especially : a disclosure of one's sins in the sacrament of reconciliation

b : a session for the confessing of sins <go to confession>

2

: a statement of what is confessed: as

a : a written or oral acknowledgment of guilt by a party accused of an offense

b : a formal statement of religious beliefs : creed

3

: an organized religious body having a common creed

Examples of CONFESSION

1. She went to the police station and made a full confession.
2. I have a confession to make: I have never done this before.
3. The priest will hear confessions after mass today.
4. I haven't gone to confession in three years.

First Known Use of CONFESSION

14th century

Related to CONFESSION

Synonyms

acknowledgment (or acknowledgement), admission, avowal, concession, self-confession

Antonyms

disavowal, nonadmission

Related Words

self-accusation, self-betrayal, self-revelation; self-incrimination, self-recrimination, self-reproach; affirmation, assertion, avouchment, claim, confirmation, declaration, insistence, profession; allowance; apology, hand-wringing; betrayal, disclosure, divulgence, giveaway, revelation; announcement, declaration, proclamation, pronouncement; blame, fault, responsibility; contriteness, contrition, penitence, regret, remorse, remorsefulness, repentance, rue

Near Antonyms

denial, disallowance, disclaimer, recantation, rejection, renouncement, repudiation

Rhymes with CONFESSION

accession, aggression, bull session, compression, concession, depression, digression, discretion, egression, expression, impression, ingression, jam session, obsession, oppression, precession, procession, profession, progression, recession, refreshen, regression, repression, secession, skull session, succession, suppression, transgression

confession

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

In the Judeo-Christian tradition, acknowledgment of sinfulness, in public or private, regarded as necessary for divine forgiveness. In the Temple period, Yom Kippur included a collective expression of sinfulness, and the day continues in Judaism as one of prayer, fasting, and confession. The early Christian Church followed John the Baptist's practice of confession before baptism, but soon instituted confession and penance for the forgiveness of sins committed after baptism. The fourth Lateran Council (1215) required annual confession. The Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches consider penance a sacrament, but most Protestant churches do not.