come clean
Finally tell everything
To come clean is to confess or reveal the full truth after concealing it: She finally came clean about the affair.
The phrase suggests washing away deception—clearing one's conscience by honest disclosure.
Often appears with "with" to specify the recipient: He came clean with his parents about the accident.
Confess or grant entry
- acknowledgeConfirm receipt or truth
- discloseReveal hidden information
- revealMake something visible
- divulgeReveal private information
fess up · spill · unburden · confession · own up · tell all · bare · expose
Accordance with reality
- candorUnguarded truthfulness
- sincerityHonest, unfeigned genuineness
- franknessDirect, unguarded honesty
- transparencyState of being see-through
forthrightness · truthfulness · integrity · genuineness · authenticity · uprightness · openness · directness
Moral self-reproach
- remorseGuilt for wrongdoing
- forgivenessReleasing resentment toward offenders
- redemptionRecovery or moral restoration
- reliefEasing of distress
closure · penitent · contrite · repent · absolve · atonement · unburdened · conscience
admit
Confess or grant entry
- acknowledgeConfirm receipt or truth
- discloseReveal hidden information
- revealMake something visible
divulge · fess up · spill · unburden · confession · own up · tell all · bare · expose · incriminate
truth
Accordance with reality
- candorUnguarded truthfulness
- sincerityHonest, unfeigned genuineness
- franknessDirect, unguarded honesty
transparency · forthrightness · truthfulness · integrity · genuineness · authenticity · uprightness · openness · directness · straightforwardness
guilt
Moral self-reproach
- remorseGuilt for wrongdoing
- forgivenessReleasing resentment toward offenders
- redemptionRecovery or moral restoration
relief · closure · penitent · contrite · repent · absolve · atonement · unburdened · conscience · catharsis
- Open upconfess, reveal, share, disclose, admit
- accountabilityaccountability, responsibility, accountable, take responsibility, answerability
- confidingopen up, disclose, confess, heart-to-heart, unbosom
- disclosurerevealing, disclosing, disclosure, disclose, divulge
- reconciliationreconciliation, reconcile, reconciled, reconciling, making up
- revealreveal, disclose, expose, unmask, unveil