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
Like many managers, Amorim professes not to read, listen or consume opinions on his side’s performances, but his reference to Neville implied others within the club do, and are too sensitive to such criticism.
—
Mark Critchley, New York Times, 5 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
Mark Critchley, New York Times, 5 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
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But nobody pretends that number is reliable.—
Jeffrey Kluger,
Time,
31 Oct. 2025
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Each night on her ongoing Short n’ Sweet tour Carpenter pretends to arrest a member of the crowd.—
Emily Zemler,
Rolling Stone,
24 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The Arctic competition intensifies as Russia boosts military presence and China declares itself a ‘near-Arctic state,’ making Greenland crucial for North American defense.—
Danica Kirka,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Jan. 2026
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Nobody goes home this week, but Ru still declares Kenya and Mandy the bottom two, saving Juicy.—
Jason P. Frank,
Vulture,
3 Jan. 2026
Verb
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That's part of a peculiar mindset that insists people with low incomes should not only be poor, but miserable.—
NEAL RUBIN,
Freep.com,
8 Nov. 2025
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Because he was raised by his stoic killer-king father, Dek insists to Thia that things like cooperation and sensitivity and grief are signs of weakness — even though the evidence of such weakness was precisely the reason why his own father wanted Dek killed.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
7 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Neither the author nor publisher assumes liability for any loss or damage arising from use of this material.—
Lyssanoel Frater,
USA Today,
6 Nov. 2025
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But all of that assumes that a putsch does succeed, and this is dubious.—
Quico Toro,
The Atlantic,
4 Nov. 2025
Verb
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This asserts that there is only one China and that Taiwan must not be recognised as a sovereign state outside Beijing’s control.—
Christopher McFadden,
Interesting Engineering,
5 Jan. 2026
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The most recent complaint against Merriam asserts that clerks have begun leaving Merriam’s staff or declining employment because of concern about mistreatment.—
Edmund H. Mahony,
Hartford Courant,
1 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Their mother claimed, the warrant alleges, that the crew used to distribute iPads so that parents could watch their children from another area during filming, but that once Busfield was hired, this practice stopped.—
Angel Saunders,
PEOPLE,
10 Jan. 2026
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In November 2023, the indictment alleges that Lopez Alvarez, Posas Alvarenga, and other CLS members murdered a person after using a fake Instagram account to lure them into the woods in Baltimore.—
JT Moodee Lockman,
CBS News,
9 Jan. 2026
Verb
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But many of their hitters have already taken swings against him – thanks to the sophisticated technology of Trajekt, a pitching machine that simulates the visual of any major-league pitcher’s mechanics and the shape of his pitches.—
Bill Plunkett,
Oc Register,
24 Oct. 2025
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In the primary bath, the space is lined with $750,000 worth of ivory onyx tile featuring a $20,000 Toto Zero-Gravity tub that simulates floating.—
Abby Montanez,
Robb Report,
15 Oct. 2025
Verb
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How bizarre, though, to hold entertainment, one of the handful of things that make this planet bearable, in such low esteem, like an opera house that proclaims its commitment to justice but forgets to mention music.—
Jackson Arn,
Harpers Magazine,
30 Dec. 2025
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The second Eclogue—often thought to be autobiographical—offers a famous example in which the shepherd Corydon proclaims his love for the boy Alexis.—
The New Yorker,
New Yorker,
20 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Professes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/professes. Accessed 10 Jan. 2026.
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