Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use fess in a sentence

18 example sentences · verb, noun, adjective

Fess means to confess; to admit. Example: “A fess dancetté has only three teeth in the whole width of the escutcheon.”

Examples of fess by meaning

nounA horizontal band across the middle of the shield.

  • The space where the arms of Wolsey used to be is being repainted with his own newly granted arms: azure, on a fess between three lions rampant or, a rose gules, barbed vert, between two Cornish choughs proper.2009, Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall, Fourth Estate, published 2010, page 420

More sentences with fess

  • A fess dancetté has only three teeth in the whole width of the escutcheon.From the entry dancetté
  • A chevron couché is one which emerges from one side of the escutcheon and has its apex on the opposite side, or at the fess point.From the entry couché
  • Pop superstar Robbie Williams appears to have ’fessed up to the crime.2016 May 12, “maxc73”, “Robbie Williams ‘confesses’ to digging holes in school’s playing field”, in The Herald, Plymouth, Devon, archived…. From the entry dibble
  • Or, three swords in fess palewise azure, guarded vert, hilted gules; unidentified.2015 12, Elizabeth Archibald, David F. Johnson, Arthurian Literature XXXII, Boydell & Brewer, →ISBN, page 160. From the entry guarded
  • I suppose I'd better give them a ring and fess up.2014, Lucy Diamond [pseudonym; Sue Mongredien], One Night in Italy, London: Pan Books, published 2016, →ISBN, page 419. From the entry fat finger
  • The triparted shield consists of a charbocle (Cleve) , a fess checky (Mark), and three chevrons (Ravensburg).2004, Jamestown Rediscovery, 1994-2004, page 4. From the entry charbocle
  • Gules, a fess azure between 4 hands (mains) sinister aversant or.1979, W. E. Hampton, Memorials of the Wars of the Roses: A Biographical Guide. From the entry aversant
  • Arms : Azure a fess between three dolphins silver on the fess an annulet (gules) for difference.1937, Rhode Island Historical Society, Rhode Island Historical Society Collections. From the entry in fruit
  • Argent a fess counterembattled between three escallops sable, impaling Gules within a border engrailed or a lion passant argent, late 14th-c.1996, Penny Hebgin-Barnes, The Medieval Stained Glass of the County of Lincolnshire, page 29. From the entry counterembattled
  • Sinister : Gules a fess bretessée Argent.1956, The Bibliotheck. From the entry bretessée
  • (G) Azure 3 bells in fess, abased.1913, Dumfriesshire and Galloway Natural History and Antiquarian Society, Transactions and Journal of Proceedings, page 107. From the entry abased
  • This is a large and finely executed shield, the red with a good diaper, but the fess has been repaired by a piece of white glass.2001, Alan Bott, The Heraldry in Merton College, Oxford, Merton College, →ISBN, page 92. From the entry diaper
  • KHVOSHCHINSKY -1- A : Per fess gules and azure, in chief fesswise a crescent points couped in pale Or, and in base a crane in its vigilance, proper.1992, Donald R. Mandich, Joseph Anthony Placek, Russian Heraldry and Nobility, Dramco. From the entry in vigilance
  • It is essentially the upper portion (or triangle) of the saltire met slightly above the fess point by a palewise line originating from the middle base.1972, Marvin H. Pakula, Heraldry and Armor of the Middle Ages. From the entry palewise
  • It consists of an heraldic diaper within a "tapestry" border below, where the Thorpe arms of a fess between six and fleur-de-lys alternate with another coat on lozenges.1949, E[dward] Clive Rouse, Longthorpe Tower, Peterborough, Northamptonshire, H.M. Stationery Office, page 4. From the entry diaper
  • “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.2009 February 26, Roy Furchgott, “You’ve Sold Your Stocks. Now What?”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 26 Nov 2022. From the entry fess up
  • Most women are seeking to be with a man they can trust to do this for them, so, if you want coaching, fess up, tell her you need a Mrs.2008, Xaviera Hollander, Katje van Dijk, The Happy Hooker's Guide to Sex: 69 Orgasmic Ways to Pleasure a Woman. From the entry Mrs. Robinson

Meaning of fess

  1. verb To confess; to admit.
  2. noun A horizontal band across the middle of the shield.
  3. adjective Proud; conceited.

Full definition of fess

Questions about fess in a sentence

How do you use fess in a sentence?
Fess is used as a verb, noun and adjective. For example: “A fess dancetté has only three teeth in the whole width of the escutcheon.”
What is a short sentence with fess?
“(G) Azure 3 bells in fess, abased.”
What does fess mean?
Fess means to confess; to admit.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: fess (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use fess in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/fess. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.