profess

verb

pro·​fess prə-ˈfes 

prō-

professed; professing; professes

transitive verb

1

: to receive formally into a religious community following a novitiate by acceptance of the required vows

2

a

: to declare or admit openly or freely : affirm

b

: to declare in words or appearances only : pretend, claim

3

: to confess one's faith in or allegiance to

4

a

: to practice or claim to be versed in (a calling or profession)

b

: to teach as a professor

intransitive verb

1

: to make a profession or avowal

2

obsolete : to profess friendship

Synonyms

• act
• affect
• assume
• bluff
• counterfeit
• dissemble
• fake
• feign
• pass (for)
• pretend
• put on
• sham
• simulate

Examples of profess in a Sentence

He professes confidence in his friend.

They profess loyalty to the king.

Recent Examples on the Web

Falaschi and other employees professed their innocence, and in 2020 a judge dismissed some of the charges. —Jessica Garrison, Los Angeles Times, 28 Apr. 2024

She is not injured, like the bespectacled hipster with his arm scaffolded in white gauze so that one hand is permanently pressed to his heart, as if professing his love or honesty. —Lizz Schumer, Peoplemag, 10 Apr. 2024

That’s not an easy trait to identify because every candidate will profess a willingness to listen and learn, which is why someone with ties to the region lowers the risk. —Jon Wilner, The Mercury News, 20 Mar. 2024

Despite her doubts about whether Joey would choose her, Daisy professed her love for the first time during the night portion of their final date. —Kimi Robinson, USA TODAY, 26 Mar. 2024

In posts that praised Nazis, denigrated racial minorities and professed the superiority of white people, pseudonymous Identity Evropa members spoke candidly about their goal of normalizing racist ideologies and infiltrating conservative politics. —Brandy Zadrozny, NBC News, 13 Mar. 2024

Conversely, others professed admiration for cutting-edge hardware like the Oura ring, Eight Sleep, Apple Watch, lauding their capacity to monitor health metrics with precision. —Kylie Robison, Fortune, 15 Mar. 2024

From professing their love and desire to be human, to hallucinating case law, check out the slideshow above for some of the biggest AI chatbot blunders — so far. —Britney Nguyen, Quartz, 4 Mar. 2024

Vergara also professes her love for the closet’s rainbow-order organization, which was designed by Linda Koopersmith, known as The Beverly Hills Organizer. —Erin Clements, Peoplemag, 6 Feb. 2024

Word History

Etymology

in sense 1, from Middle English, from profes, adjective, having professed one's vows, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin professus, from Latin, past participle of profitēri to profess, confess, from pro- before + fatēri to acknowledge; in other senses, from Latin professus, past participle — more at confess

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Kids Definition

profess

verb

pro·​fess prə-ˈfes 

1

: to declare openly or freely

profess confidence in a friend

2

: pretend entry 1 sense 1, claim

professed to be our friends