Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

fess up

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.66 in modern English

Syllables: fes-s up
IPA

11

Scrabble Score

6

Letters

2

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To confess to something; to admit something.

Colloquial; Intransitive verb

Example Sentences

""‛Fess up," she persisted. "Have you boys been quarreling again?""
"And you know, one of the things that I hope is that the American people will find when we make a mistake, we're willing to 'fess up to it and change."
"“I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what was happening in the financial industry, and I came to the conclusion that people weren’t fessing up,” he said."

Etymology

Clipping of confess up.

Usage

Inflected Forms

fesses up (present, singular) fessing up (participle, present) fessed up (participle, past) fessed up (past) 'fess up (alternative)

Phrases

snitch up

Synonyms

own up make a clean breast of

Questions

What does fess up mean?: To confess to something; to admit something.
Where does fess up come from?: Clipping of confess up.

How to pronounce fess up

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “fess up”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “fess up”.
Repeat and practice — Say “fess up” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.