fess up
"fess-up" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“fess up” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a verb - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To confess to something; to admit something.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | fess up |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| Letters | 7 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “fess up” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for fess up is 7 letters long, classified as a verb. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "To confess to something; to admit something.".
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for fess up, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: Clipping of confess up. The correct English form is fess up, spelled F-E-S-S- -U-P.
Definition
- 1To confess to something; to admit something.
Etymology
Clipping of confess up.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "fess up"?
What does "fess up" mean?
What is the origin of the word "fess up"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “fess up”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is F-E-S-S- -U-P - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.