The Clue
Avowed (9 letter answer)
The Answer
PROFESSED
Tags
Notes
The answer PROFESSED is so rare that it appears less than once every 2500 puzzles.
Definition
PROFESS as a verb:
1. practice as a profession, teach, or claim to be knowledgeable about; "She professes organic chemistry"
2. confess one's faith in, or allegiance to; "The terrorists professed allegiance to the Muslim faith"; "he professes to be a Communist"
3. (concede, profess, confess) = admit, make a clean breast of; "She confessed that she had taken the money"
4. state freely; "The teacher professed that he was not generous when it came to giving good grades"
5. receive into a religious order or congregation
6. take vows, as in religious order; "she professed herself as a nun"
7. (profess, pretend) = state insincerely; "He professed innocence but later admitted his guilt"; "She pretended not to have known the suicide bomber"; "She pretends to be an expert on wine"
PROFESSED as an adjective:
1. professing to be qualified; "a professed philosopher"
2. claimed with intent to deceive; "his professed intentions"
3. (avowed, professed) = openly declared as such; "an avowed enemy"; "her professed love of everything about that country"; "McKinley was assassinated by a professed anarchist"