1
as in pretends
to present a false appearance of
professed friendship while secretly plotting revenge
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in declares
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
3
as in insists
to state as a fact usually forcefully
he professed his innocence to anyone who would listen
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of professes
Maurice grows steadily more intimate with a friend, Clive, trading books and letters with him over vacation, until Clive professes his love.
—
Bekah Waalkes, The Atlantic, 3 Feb. 2026
Ongoing diversity problem Each year, Goodell professes a desire to see the NFL employ fair hiring practices that will ensure the league’s head coaching and general manager ranks reflect strong diversity.
—Mike Jones, New York Times, 2 Feb. 2026
No matter how much people want to blame the departing Matt Nagy, or how Reid professes that the offense has been off just a tick, a significant part of why the Chiefs the last three seasons went 15th, 15th and 21st in scoring has a more holistic cause.
—Kansas City Star, 21 Jan. 2026
Colossal Biosciences professes to have species conservation as its primary mission, but de-extinction technologies could be used for other purposes.
—JSTOR Daily, 13 Nov. 2025
Also, this is the second scene of the season in which a male love interest professes an intense and specific oral fixation with his female partner.
—Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 18 Oct. 2025
Adcock professes to take safety seriously.
—Billy Perrigo, Time, 9 Oct. 2025
Add to this fact that Isabelle’s assistant, Dani, also professes her love for her and there’s quite a lot of intersecting queerness in this entry.
—Mathew Rodriguez, Them., 23 Sep. 2025
Bekah Waalkes, The Atlantic, 3 Feb. 2026
Ongoing diversity problem Each year, Goodell professes a desire to see the NFL employ fair hiring practices that will ensure the league’s head coaching and general manager ranks reflect strong diversity.
—Mike Jones, New York Times, 2 Feb. 2026
No matter how much people want to blame the departing Matt Nagy, or how Reid professes that the offense has been off just a tick, a significant part of why the Chiefs the last three seasons went 15th, 15th and 21st in scoring has a more holistic cause.
—Kansas City Star, 21 Jan. 2026
Colossal Biosciences professes to have species conservation as its primary mission, but de-extinction technologies could be used for other purposes.
—JSTOR Daily, 13 Nov. 2025
Also, this is the second scene of the season in which a male love interest professes an intense and specific oral fixation with his female partner.
—Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 18 Oct. 2025
Adcock professes to take safety seriously.
—Billy Perrigo, Time, 9 Oct. 2025
Add to this fact that Isabelle’s assistant, Dani, also professes her love for her and there’s quite a lot of intersecting queerness in this entry.
—Mathew Rodriguez, Them., 23 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for professes
Verb
-
The human therapist pretends to be a client.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
21 Jan. 2026
-
By March, the city pretends the interruption never happened.—
Alexandra Martinez,
Artforum,
15 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Gyllenhaal declares about her film.—
Sydney Bucksbaum,
Entertainment Weekly,
3 Feb. 2026
-
The trend began in the 1920s with singer Josephine Baker (the most popular Black female star of the 1920s) and 1930s Betty Boop, both of whom Mallett declares the queens of the kiss curl.—
Margaux Anbouba,
Vogue,
1 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Trump insists any new nuclear pact must include China, whose arsenal grew from 200 warheads to over 600 since 2020, but Beijing refuses to participate.—
Vladimir Isachenkov,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Feb. 2026
-
The National Electoral Council insists Maduro was the victor but has refused to release the tally sheets.—
CNN 9 hr ago,
CNN Money,
5 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
The newer model assumes that demand follows trust.—
Connie Etemadi,
USA Today,
7 Feb. 2026
-
Kerry Haigh will continue to serve as interim CEO until Clark assumes his role March 2.—
Eric Prisbell,
Dallas Morning News,
4 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
In addition, Netflix asserts that retail streaming prices will go down, arguing that consumers see HBO Max as complementary to Netflix’s service, and as such competitors like Amazon’s Prime Video and Disney+/Hulu will be forced to keep pricing in check to fight for market share.—
Todd Spangler,
Variety,
3 Feb. 2026
-
The city’s most recent transportation update asserts that an 11,000-seat stadium in the middle of Franklin Park can operate with minimal traffic impacts by relying heavily on shuttle buses, remote parking, and unusually high transit use.—
Ed Gaskin,
Boston Herald,
31 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Hadder and his friend pummeled him with kicks, Cordell alleges.—
Rob Picheta,
CNN Money,
7 Feb. 2026
-
The indictment alleges Bynon changed the records of five patients from March 2023 to March 2024.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
6 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
The software simulates wind passing over the avatar, computational fluid dynamics calculate how much resistance there is — and how tweaking a skater’s form alters that.—
Howard Fendrich,
Chicago Tribune,
4 Feb. 2026
-
Most prominently, engineers detected leaking hydrogen during the test, known as a wet dress rehearsal that simulates a launch day countdown.—
Eric Lagatta,
USA Today,
3 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
The state proclaims how much cash the lottery is pouring into schools.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
5 Feb. 2026
-
Richard proclaims he and Lexy's innocence, but the discovery of the murder weapon (and Rachel's nail fragments) in their house is evidence enough that Lexy and Richard are behind the murders.—
Randall Colburn,
Entertainment Weekly,
12 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Professes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/professes. Accessed 9 Feb. 2026.
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