PROFESS Synonyms: 109 Similar and Opposite Words

profess

verb

prə-ˈfes

Definition of profess

as in to pretend

to present a false appearance of professed friendship while secretly plotting revenge

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

as in to declare

to state clearly and strongly the lonely woman professed her love in a series of letters to the soldier

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in to insist

to state as a fact usually forcefully he professed his innocence to anyone who would listen

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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.

Recent Examples of profess Though Le Soleil professed strong public health beliefs, the parents and the daycare share a commercial relationship, not one related to joining together for First Amendment activities, Brailsford said. — Idaho Statesman, 23 Sep. 2026 Erosion along the 3-mile shoreline topped 60% in August and narrowed the beach to a point even Tybee lifers professed to have never seen. — Adam Van Brimmer, AJC.com, 19 Sep. 2026 In the following episode, Maggie professes her love to Lizzie. — Emma Banks, PEOPLE, 18 Sep. 2026 Inviting Fielder into their home to live with them and start recording their lives just 34 days before her incarceration, Holmes and her romantic partner, William ‘Billy’ Evans, profess her innocence on their own, intimate terms. — Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 10 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for profess

Recent Examples of Synonyms for profess

Verb

Traditional American business values like social responsibility, community involvement, and customer service — y’know, the things companies used to at least pretend to care about — have been tossed aside.

— Noel Murray, Vulture, 9 Oct. 2026
Everyone pretends the films were chosen purely on merit, but the slate often reads Hollywood with a lanyard and a conscience.

— Joseph Kahn, HollywoodReporter, 8 Oct. 2026

Definition of pretend

Verb

More than half a dozen houses along the coast were declared structurally unsafe.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 12 Oct. 2026
Newport Beach also declared a local emergency yesterday to free up resources ahead of the storm’s landfall, after experiencing significant coastal flooding overnight.

— Erika Angulo, NBC news, 11 Oct. 2026

Definition of declare

Verb

For instance, in affiliate distribution deals for linear networks, carriers increasingly insist on bundling the streaming service.

— Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 9 Oct. 2026
Dangerous donkeys On one side is the public safety crowd, who insist the 500-pound beasts are a menace to the free flow of commerce.

— Jack Dolan, Los Angeles Times, 8 Oct. 2026

Definition of insist

Verb

But, Punsalan asserts that the business is focused on other, more important priorities over the cafeteria or campus perks such as gym access offered in other tech companies.

— Tamlin Magee, Fortune, 8 Oct. 2026
Trump is accustomed to asserting the primacy of force over law and clearly anticipates no punishment for doing so in front of a body dedicated to saving humanity from the scourge of war.

— Anjali Dayal, Washington Post, 8 Oct. 2026

Definition of assert

Verb

Magen Dodge brought a gender discrimination complaint against former police Chief Robert White in 2019, alleging that the police chief made sexist remarks.

— Shelly Bradbury, Denver Post, 10 Oct. 2026
Engel has filed a lawsuit alleging the maker of Ozempic, Novo Nordisk, failed to warn patients and doctors about the risk of NAION.

— Yuki Noguchi, NPR, 10 Oct. 2026

Definition of allege

Verb

Simulating an investment banker’s work is fundamentally different from simulating a software engineer’s work, CEO Jerry Wu tells Fortune.

— Wen Shao, Fortune, 1 Oct. 2026
For months before today’s launch, Google has been anticipating those problems on Earth, shaking spacecraft to simulate the launch and bombarding its chips with proton beams to test their response to radiation.

— Peter Hall, Scientific American, 1 Oct. 2026

Definition of simulate

Verb

Jamal convened a press conference proclaiming to be able to communicate by phone with Somali pirates who were holding a Nigerian ship hostage.

— Mia Cathell, The Washington Examiner, 5 Oct. 2026
President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving holiday.

— The Learning Network, New York Times, 3 Oct. 2026

Definition of proclaim

Browse Nearby Words

profanity

profess

professed

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Style

“Profess.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/profess. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of profess

verb

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