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

• pretend
• assume
• simulate

Examples of profess in a Sentence

He professes confidence in his friend.

They profess loyalty to the king.

Recent Examples on the Web

Warning signs, per federal guidance, can include someone quickly professing love, claiming to live far away, requests to move conversations to other apps and having bad grammar. —Zachary Schermele, USA Today, 24 Sep. 2025

Brady concluded his own explanation by professing his love of the game. —Anna Lazarus Caplan, PEOPLE, 24 Sep. 2025

Add to this fact that Isabelle’s assistant, Dani, also professes her love for her and there’s quite a lot of intersecting queerness in this entry. —Mathew Rodriguez, Them., 23 Sep. 2025

That concept, Nix professed in July, is what will keep him from enduring an off year in Year 2. —Luca Evans, Denver Post, 22 Sep. 2025

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

Rhymes for profess

• abbess
• abscess
• access
• address
• assess
• caress
• confess
• depress
• digress
• distress
• egress
• excess

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