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
-
By its final years, the hall mostly hosted dancing, admitting men for 50 cents and women free of charge.—
Graham Womack
May 2,
Sacbee.com,
2 May 2026 -
Monica Lewinsky is admitting what led her to make choices that helped ignite one of Washington’s biggest scandals.—
Stephanie Giang-Paunon,
FOXNews.com,
1 May 2026
Verb
-
Robinson left a handwritten note for his romantic partner confessing to the crime, and also confessed to friends on the chat room platform Discord, prosecutors said.—
Matthew Brown,
Chicago Tribune,
18 Apr. 2026
-
Josh goes to prison and serves an eight-year sentence after falsely confessing to Park's crimes.—
Skyler Trepel,
PEOPLE,
16 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
While acknowledging the greater macro risks throughout the call, Meyer remained upbeat surrounding the status of DHL.—
Glenn Taylor,
Footwear News,
1 May 2026
-
The group issued a brief statement, which was posted on the Instagram and the website of arts platform e-flux acknowledging their departure.—
News Desk,
Artforum,
30 Apr. 2026
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.
Cite this Entry
“Fessing (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fessing%20%28up%29. Accessed 4 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
