as in confessing
to make an acknowledgment of something unpleasant as true or valid
had a strong suspicion about which coworker stole her food from the office fridge, but the likely culprit refused to own up
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for owning (up)
Verb
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That it was spliced with footage of his secret ex-girlfriend, Meija Moreno, confessing to Ciara Miller and Kyle Cooke via FaceTime that West had lied like crazy about their relationship status portended certain doom.—
Marlow Stern,
Variety,
10 June 2026 -
Randle was seen crying on multiple occasions as evidence was presented, including recordings of her confessing to hitting Dinkins.—
JT Moodee Lockman,
CBS News,
8 June 2026
Verb
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There’s no shame in admitting it.—
USA TODAY,
USA Today,
12 June 2026
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In other words, rather than admitting more qualified applicants, the administration has chosen to pressure professors to dumb down the material.—
Adam B. Summers,
Oc Register,
11 June 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Owning (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/owning%20%28up%29. Accessed 15 Jun. 2026.
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