Meanings
phrase
- idiomaticsentence adverbFrankly, honestly.
I don't mind, to be honest.
1 more example
To be honest, he has a bit of a body odor problem, but we haven't yet had an opportunity to tell him gently and privately.
Synonyms: TBH, tbh, if I'm honest, in all honesty, I can't lie
Synonyms & antonyms
phraseFrankly, honestly.
Translations
Arabic بِصَراحة
- بِصَراحة (biṣarāḥa)frankly
Chinese Cantonese 講真 /讲真
- 講真 /讲真 (gong² zan¹)frankly
Chinese Mandarin 老實說 /老实说
- 老實說 /老实说 (lǎoshíshuō)frankly
Czech popravdě řečeno, upřímně řečeno
- popravdě řečenofrankly
- upřímně řečenofrankly
Danish for at være ærlig
- for at være ærligfrankly
Dutch eerlijk gezegd, om eerlijk te zijn
- eerlijk gezegdfrankly
- om eerlijk te zijnfrankly
Finnish rehellisesti, vilpittömästi
- rehellisestifrankly
- vilpittömästifrankly
French pour être honnête, franchement
- pour être honnêtefrankly
- franchementfrankly
- en toute franchisefrankly
German ehrlich gesagt, um ehrlich zu sein
- ehrlich gesagtfrankly
- um ehrlich zu seinfrankly
Greek εδώ που τα λέμε, για να είμαι ειλικρινής
- εδώ που τα λέμε (edó pou ta léme)frankly
- για να είμαι ειλικρινής (gia na eímai eilikrinís)frankly
Hungarian hogy őszinte legyek, őszintén szólva
- hogy őszinte legyekfrankly
- őszintén szólvafrankly
- az igazat megvallvafrankly
Icelandic satt best að segja
- satt best að segjafrankly
Indonesian sejujurnya, terus terang
- sejujurnyafrankly
- terus terangfrankly
Italian ad essere sincero
- ad essere sincerofrankly
Japanese 正直に言うと
- 正直に言うと (shōjiki ni iu to)frankly
Norwegian for å være ærlig
- for å være ærligfrankly
Polish szczerze mówiąc, prawdę mówiąc
- szczerze mówiącfrankly
- prawdę mówiącfrankly
- będąc szczerymfrankly
Portuguese para ser honesto, para ser honesta
- para ser honestofrankly
- para ser honestafrankly
Romanian sincer, sincer să fiu
- sincerfrankly
- sincer să fiufrankly
- sinceră să fiufrankly
Russian че́стно говоря́, е́сли че́стно
- че́стно говоря́ (čéstno govorjá)frankly
- е́сли че́стно (jésli čéstno)frankly
Spanish para ser honesto [with le and a; or with con], si me apuras
- para ser honesto [with le and a; or with con]frankly
- si me apurasfrankly
Swedish för att vara ärlig, ska jag vara ärlig
- för att vara ärligfrankly
- ska jag vara ärligfrankly
Turkish dürüst olmak gerekirse, açık söylemek gerekirse
- dürüst olmak gerekirsefrankly
- açık söylemek gerekirsefrankly
- doğruyu söylemek gerekirsefrankly
- doğrusunu söylemek gerekirsefrankly
- ne yalan söyleyeyimfrankly
Ukrainian че́сно ка́жучи, якщо́ че́сно
- че́сно ка́жучи (čésno kážučy)frankly
- якщо́ че́сно (jakščó čésno)frankly
Welsh a dweud y gwir, a bod yn onest
- a dweud y gwirfrankly
- a bod yn onestfrankly
Cite this entry
APA
to be honest. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/to%20be%20honest
MLA
“to be honest.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/to%20be%20honest. Accessed November 5, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “to be honest,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/to%20be%20honest.
Source: to be honest on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.