profess
Americanverb (used with object)
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to lay claim to, often insincerely; pretend to.
He professed extreme regret.
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to declare openly; announce or affirm; avow or acknowledge.
to profess one's satisfaction.
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to affirm faith in or allegiance to (a religion, God, etc.).
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to declare oneself skilled or expert in; claim to have knowledge of; make (a thing) one's profession or business.
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to teach as a professor.
She professes comparative literature.
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to receive or admit into a religious order.
verb (used without object)
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to make a profession, avowal, or declaration.
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to take the vows of a religious order.
verb
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to affirm or announce (something, such as faith); acknowledge
to profess ignorance
to profess a belief in God
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(tr) to claim (something, such as a feeling or skill, or to be or do something), often insincerely or falsely
to profess to be a skilled driver
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to receive or be received into a religious order, as by taking vows
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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has professedperfect 3rd person singular
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have professedperfect
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are professingprogressive
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have been professingperfect progressive
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professingparticiple
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professessingular 3rd person
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am professingprogressive 1st person singular
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is professingprogressive 3rd person singular
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has been professingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
Past
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had professedperfect
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were professingprogressive plural
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had been professingperfect progressive
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was professingprogressive singular
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professedsimple
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professedparticiple
Future
Etymology
Origin of profess
1400–50; late Middle English; back formation from professed
Explanation
To profess is to declare something, often insincerely. Your joy on the last day of school might lead you to profess that you'll truly miss seeing all the people who annoyed you all year. You can profess something and mean it, but more often the verb profess is used when someone lies about their true feelings. You might profess your love of your grandmother's tuna casserole, or profess that you never bite your fingernails, but you're just saying what you think people want to hear. The original meaning of profess described taking religious vows, and came from the Latin word professus, meaning "having declared publicly."
Vocabulary lists containing profess
Words That Could Go Either Way: Synonyms for "Maybe"
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"Shooting an Elephant" by George Orwell
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The Taming of the Shrew
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Similarly, those in the media or the foreign policy establishment who profess dismay that China’s rulers now view the U.S. as a global equal are also failing to observe the obvious.
From Salon • May 17, 2026
I profess no ultimate wisdom but that’s what I’m getting from the comments that they make.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 21, 2026
Liebling didn’t profess to be the best wordsmith who ever lived, but he did say that he could write faster than anyone who could write better.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 3, 2026
Although they profess to be in this screwy loyalty gauntlet for similar reasons, not everyone’s impetus is the same.
From Salon • Mar. 13, 2025
I tell her that I profess God’s goodness and mercy, but what I love most truly is his marvelous creature, my son.
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
