Phrase guide

to tell the truth

adv · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

adv

Meaning 1

An attestation to the truthfulness and frankness of an associated statement.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic, not-comparable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: to be honest, to tell you the truth, TTTT, above a bit, actually, all things considered, as a matter of fact, by right, certainly, come to think of it, de facto, definitely, de jure, fact is, forsooth, frankly, honestly, in actuality, in all honesty, indubitably, in fact, in faith, in point of fact, in reality, in truth, indeed, legitimately, literally, not gonna lie, properly, really, right, simply, soothfast, soothly, surely, to be frank, TBH, to tell the truth, truly, truthfully, undoubtedly, verily, very much, wis

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

26 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: besa — attestation to the truthfulness and frankness of a statement
  • Bashkir: дөрөҫөн әйткәндә (döröśön əytkəndə) — attestation to the truthfulness and frankness of a statement
  • Bengali: বলিতে কি (bolite ki) — attestation to the truthfulness and frankness of a statement
  • Chinese Mandarin: 老實說 /老实说 (lǎoshishuō) — attestation to the truthfulness and frankness of a statement
  • Esperanto: verdire — attestation to the truthfulness and frankness of a statement
  • Finnish: totta puhuen — attestation to the truthfulness and frankness of a statement
  • Finnish: toden sanoakseni — attestation to the truthfulness and frankness of a statement
  • French: à vrai dire — attestation to the truthfulness and frankness of a statement
  • French: à dire vrai — attestation to the truthfulness and frankness of a statement
  • German: um die Wahrheit zu sagen — attestation to the truthfulness and frankness of a statement
  • Greek: εδώ που τα λέμε (edó pou ta léme) — attestation to the truthfulness and frankness of a statement
  • Icelandic: reyndar — attestation to the truthfulness and frankness of a statement
  • Icelandic: raunar — attestation to the truthfulness and frankness of a statement
  • Icelandic: í raun og veru — attestation to the truthfulness and frankness of a statement
  • Icelandic: satt best að segja — attestation to the truthfulness and frankness of a statement
  • Icelandic: frómt frá sagt — attestation to the truthfulness and frankness of a statement
  • Irish: déanta na fírinne — attestation to the truthfulness and frankness of a statement
  • Italian: a dire il vero — attestation to the truthfulness and frankness of a statement
  • Italian: a onor del vero — attestation to the truthfulness and frankness of a statement
  • Japanese: 実を言えば (jitsu-o ieba) — attestation to the truthfulness and frankness of a statement
  • Polish: prawdę mówiąc — attestation to the truthfulness and frankness of a statement
  • Russian: по пра́вде говоря́ (po právde govorjá) — attestation to the truthfulness and frankness of a statement
  • Russian: че́стно говоря́ (čéstno govorjá) — attestation to the truthfulness and frankness of a statement
  • Scottish Gaelic: leis an fhìrinn innse — attestation to the truthfulness and frankness of a statement
  • Scottish Gaelic: a dh'innse na fìrinn — attestation to the truthfulness and frankness of a statement
  • Ukrainian: пра́вду ка́жучи (právdu kážučy) — attestation to the truthfulness and frankness of a statement