To confess means to admit something you've been hiding, especially something wrong or embarrassing. When you confess to breaking your sister's toy, you're telling the truth about what happened even though it's hard. When a student confesses to copying homework, they're owning up to their mistake instead of letting someone else take the blame.

Confession takes courage because it means accepting the consequences of what you did. It's the difference between getting caught and coming forward on your own. A younger child might confess to eating cookies before dinner. A detective might get a suspect to confess to a crime. In many religions, people confess their wrongdoings to help make things right.

The word can also mean admitting feelings or secrets that aren't necessarily bad. You might confess to your friend that you're nervous about the school play, or confess that you actually enjoyed a book everyone else thought was boring. In these cases, confess simply means revealing something you kept private.

A confession is the act of confessing or the statement itself. While confessing might lead to punishment, it can also bring relief: carrying around a secret or a lie feels heavy, and confession lightens that burden.