confession
noun
Simple meaning
A formal document providing such an admission.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
kuhnfehshuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
kənˈfɛʃən
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A formal document providing such an admission.
Acknowledgment of belief; profession of one's faith.
The document that spells out the belief system of a given church (especially the Reformation churches of the 16th century)
ChristianityRoman Catholic Church
The act of a penitent disclosing his sinfulness before a priest in the sacrament of penance in the hope of absolution
christianity
The disclosure of one's sins to a priest for absolution. In the Roman Catholic Church, it is now also termed the sacrament of reconciliation.
A formula in which the articles of faith are comprised; a creed to be assented to or signed, as a preliminary to admission to membership of a church; a confession of faith.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The act of professing one's love.
Used this way, confession is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly warm, approving pull. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Positive
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Affectionate
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use confession
- “He made a full confession about eating all the cookies.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
A booth where a priest sits to hear confessions.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A judgment entered after a written confession by the debtor without the expense of ordinary legal proceedings.
A judgment entered after a written confession by the debtor without the expense of ordinary legal proceedings.
The document drawn up in 1555 to defend the catholicity of Lutheran doctrine and to justify innovations in Lutheran practice.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.