Word " profess "

Question

I profess that I am a thief.I profess like a father.The only time she profess to her malevalent behavior is when she is drunk.profess - v - to acknowledge, to claim, pretend to.How are the usages of the word in the sentences above?

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi,

My dictionatry offers these defintitions. Examples 1 and 2 are mine

1. claim openly to have (a quality or feeling)

eg Tom professed his love for Mary

2. (followed by to + infinitive) pretend

eg Tom professed to love Mary

3. declare

eg Tom professed ignorance.

The word 'profess' is not in very common use.

In everyday English, I would say that meaning #2 is the one that people usually think of.

I profess that I am a thief. Sounds like meaning #3, but the person would typically say 'I confess I am a thief' or simply 'I am a thief'.

I profess like a father. What does this mean? How does a father profess?

The only time she profess to her malevalent behavior is when she is drunk.

Again, the word 'confess' sounds much more natural.

profess - v - to acknowledge, to claim, pretend to.

How are the usages of the word in the sentences above?

All of your examples sound odd. I can't imagine a real person saying any of them.

#1 and #3 sound like 'acknowledge', but that meaning is rarely used.

Best wishes, Clive

Avangi · Answer

SpacewaterI profess that I am a thief. Okay, but "confess" would be more common. To acknowledge

I profess like a father. My American Heritage gives this meaning (intransitive), but I've never heard it. There are common religious meanings, but I'm not familiar with them. To acknowledge (intransitive)

The only time she profess to her malevalent behavior is when she is drunk. Are you sure about the tense of "profess"? It sounds like an obsolete subjunctive usage, but my dictionary doesn't list any obsolete uses. It makes sense in the simple present (to affirm openly). We often do so when we're drunk. To acknowledge

You haven't exemplified the "pretend to" usage. It takes the infinitive. She professes to love everyone when she is drunk. (That is, she's lying.)

profess - v - to acknowledge, to claim, pretend to.

How are the usages of the word in the sentences above? It's difficult to distinguish between "to acknowledge" and "to claim," without prior context attesting to the truth or falsity of the matter.
We usually take "to acknowledge" as to admit something which is true.
We usually take "to claim" as to assert something which is not true. Without prior context, we don't know which verb applies.

Word " profess "

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