profess Hear it!

profess Definition

pro·fess (prō fes′, prə-)

transitive verb

  1. to make an open declaration of; affirm to profess one's love
  2. to claim to have (some feeling, an interest, knowledge, etc.): often connoting insincerity or pretense
  3. to practice as one's profession
  4. to declare one's belief in to profess Christianity

  5. Etymology: ME professen < profes, professed < L professus

    to accept into a religious order

Etymology: < L professus, pp. of profiteri, to avow publicly < pro-, before (see pro-) + fateri, to avow, akin to fari, to speak: see fable

intransitive verb

  1. to make profession, or affirmation
  2. to make one's profession (sense )

profess Synonyms

profess

v.

avow, confess, pretend; see declare 1.

profess Usage Examples

Object

  • godliness: How rare is the exercise of the Psalmist among those who profess godliness!
  • allegiance: The decline in the number of people professing allegiance to Christianity is alarming.
  • ignorance: The point is that they were made by the same teachers who had earlier professed almost complete ignorance of Protestant schools.
  • faith: There were several who did profess faith in Christ.
  • creed: Thus modern Freemasonry was a religious fraternity, where freemasons as individuals could profess any creed except atheism.
  • admiration: This still irks Olga, my guide here, who objects when I profess admiration for both his architectural achievements and energy.

Used with why or when

what: It is also bad for people to profess what they do not believe.

Infinitive complement

  • despise: The Power which you profess to despise has sent it to me.
  • believe: No matter what they may once have professed to believe, they have put themselves beyond the reach of the church's prayers.
  • hate: Now they profess to hate it and, for some, their view of it contaminates their view of everything we do.
  • know: Don't profess to know more about the company than you really do.
  • like: On the topic of the Millenium Center opinions are predictably mixed, tho most profess to like the building itself.

Adjective complement

Modifying Another Word

  • openly: The God of Jacob hath openly professed we shall not seek him in vain, Isa. xlv.
  • publicly: I always love this kind of service, as the body of Christ welcomes new members as they publicly profess their faith.
  • all: The athletes who perform here all profess to have retired now from competitive sport.
  • not: XXX does not profess accuracy in details of canals, &c.
  • never: But, hey, I never professed to be the World's greatest Asian genre film fan.
  • n't: Do n't profess to know more about the company than you really do.