speak truth to power

verb

To address facts to an authority or a superior, especially in the face of risk to oneself.

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Meanings

verbspeak truth to power (third-person singular simple present speaks truth to power, present participle speaking truth to power, simple past spoke truth to power, past participle spoken truth to power)

present singular third person speaks truth to power · participle present speaking truth to power · past spoke truth to power · participle past spoken truth to power

  1. To address facts to an authority or a superior, especially in the face of risk to oneself.

    He was tired of corporate politics and craved a setting where people spoke truth to power, but, he said, it took him a while to get used to dealing with Dalio.

    2011 July 18, John Cassidy, “Mastering the Machine”, in The New Yorker, →ISSN
    1 more example

    “Once, we needed to have a pope who would speak in favour of human rights in Russia and China,” said Massimo Faggioli […]. “You now need someone who can speak truth to American power.”

    2025 May 10, Massimo Faggioli, quotee, “Chicagoan pope not afraid of speaking truth to power in US”, in FT Weekend, London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 3
Cite this entry
APA

speak truth to power. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/speak%20truth%20to%20power

MLA

“speak truth to power.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/speak%20truth%20to%20power. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “speak truth to power,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/speak%20truth%20to%20power.

Source: speak truth to power on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.