fessing (up)

verb

present participle of fess (up)
1
as in admitting
to accept the truth or existence of (something) usually reluctantly he fessed up to breaking the antique vase only after his guilt was obvious

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in confessing
to make an acknowledgment of something unpleasant as true or valid at first he denied everything, but eventually he realized that he had no choice but to fess up

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for fessing (up)
  1. admitting
  2. confessing
  3. acknowledging
Verb
  • Blowing Oleksa’s cover would mean publicly admitting that there are five senators on her asset list — one of whom was seduced into posing for some, uh, compromising photographs.
    — Andy Andersen, Vulture, 16 Aug. 2026
  • Asked if his new costars are more talented than the JoBros when they were cast in the 2008 film, Nick is perfectly comfortable with admitting the obvious.
    — Allison DeGrushe, Entertainment Weekly, 13 Aug. 2026
Definition of admitting
Verb
  • Of course, confessing to any involvement in Haleigh’s disappearance could also land Trinity in a lot more trouble.
    — Dateline NBC, NBC news, 20 Aug. 2026
  • After posting a video earlier this week asking if anyone else couldn’t stop purchasing diamonds via TikTok, his comment section quickly flooded with more than a thousand replies from people across the country, all confessing their little secret.
    — Cheyenne Roundtree, Rolling Stone, 16 Aug. 2026
Definition of confessing
Verb
  • Analysts remain cautiously optimistic, acknowledging progress but awaiting sustained profit and traffic growth.
    — Pamela N. Danziger, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2026
  • West Ham released a statement on Thursday acknowledging the chant and urging supporters not to replicate it at home to Charlton Athletic on Saturday.
    — Jessica Hopkins, New York Times, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of acknowledging
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

fesses (up)
fessing (up)
fess (up)
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Cite this Entry

“Fessing (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fessing%20%28up%29. Accessed 24 Aug. 2026.

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