phrasal verb · neutral
come clean
/kʌm kliːn/come·CLEAN
speakingtask2
to admit the truth about something, especially after holding back
Examples
“He finally came clean about taking the money.”
“If you want to fix the problem we need you to come clean now.”
“Parents often tell their children to come clean when they've made a mistake.”
Band 8 sentence
“Under pressure from investigators, the suspect came clean and provided the full account of events.”
Collocations
- come clean about (something)
- come clean to (someone)
Word family
come clean / came clean / coming clean verb
Common mistakes
He comes clean the truth.→He came clean about the truth.
come clean = come tidy→come clean = admit the truth
Say it for a higher band
5admit→6confess→7+come clean
Synonyms
admit
confess
Easily confused
confess
“He confessed to the theft in court.”
come out
“The truth came out during the trial.”
Related words
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In come …
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