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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fessing (up)
Verb
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Hallucinations by large language models are a result of their training, when they are rewarded for grasping for an answer instead of admitting uncertainty.—
Parmy Olson,
Mercury News,
7 Mar. 2026 -
The Leeds manager was sanctioned with misconduct by the Football Association (FA), and after admitting the charge, was handed the standard one-game suspension plus an £8,000 fine.—
Ali Rampling,
New York Times,
6 Mar. 2026
Verb
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So did confessing to a crime, oddly.—
Jennifer Maas,
Variety,
3 Mar. 2026
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After finally confessing to their bosses about these secret missions, they were allowed to continue.—
Costa Beavin Pappas,
Los Angeles Times,
2 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Attorneys for Meta say the company discloses risks and makes efforts to weed out harmful content and experiences -- acknowledging that some bad material still gets through its safety net.—
MORGAN LEE THE ASSOCIATED PRESS,
Arkansas Online,
6 Mar. 2026
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Attorneys for Meta say the company discloses risks and makes efforts to weed out harmful content and experiences — acknowledging that some bad material still gets through its safety net.—
Morgan Lee,
Fortune,
6 Mar. 2026
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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 12 Mar. 2026.
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