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

Each member of the Sony Columbia group took it in turn to introduce themselves, and everyone professed their love of working on the release of Django Unchained for Sony Columbia Pictures. —Jay Glennie, Deadline, 16 Oct. 2025

Matt Rhule professed his love for living and working in Nebraska and trying to return the Cornhuskers to the upper echelon of college football. —Eric Olson, Denver Post, 13 Oct. 2025

She was received by the religious community and took her religious name — Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt — in 1938 before professing her vows in 1945. —Shannon Ryan, New York Times, 10 Oct. 2025

Adcock professes to take safety seriously. —Billy Perrigo, Time, 9 Oct. 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