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Come clean

Idiomatic Phrase
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Come clean: to confess fully and honestly; the cleansing metaphor implies that concealment is a form of moral dirtiness, and confession restores purity; used in confessional verse.

Detailed Definition
Come clean means to confess, reveal the truth, or stop concealing wrongdoing. In poetry, it is valuable for redemption arcs, dramatic monologues, confessional poems, and narratives of betrayal or self-knowledge. The phrase links honesty with cleanliness, implying that secrecy stains the self. This moral metaphor can be explored seriously or ironically, especially where social judgement oversimplifies guilt. A speaker who comes clean may seek forgiveness, freedom, punishment, or simply the relief of no longer performing innocence.
Example
Example in poetry:
A confession poem might ask the liar to come clean beneath the courtroom light; In a love poem, come clean can signal the painful honesty that saves affection; The phrase suits dramatic turning points where truth replaces pretence; A poet could use it with washing imagery to suggest moral cleansing.
Additional Notes
Come clean means confess honestly or reveal the truth. The idiom links morality with cleanliness, suggesting that secrecy stains the self. In poetry it can appear in dramatic monologue, confession, religious repentance, crime, or love. Students should consider what kind of cleansing is imagined: legal truth, emotional honesty, spiritual absolution, or merely the relief of no longer hiding.
Also Known As
confess
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