truth

plural truths · alternative obsolete trewth

1. uncountableusuallyTrue facts, genuine depiction or statements of reality.

   The truth is that our leaders knew a lot more than they were letting on.

   2 more examples

   The truth depends on, and is only arrived at, by a legitimate deduction from all the facts which are truly material.

   1831 December 27, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “Beauty—Genius”, in H[enry] N[elson] C[oleridge], editor, Specimens of the Table Talk of the Late Samuel Taylor Coleridge. […], volume II, London: John Murray, […], published 1835, →OCLC, page 19

   The truth is that [Isaac] Newton was very much a product of his time. The colossus of science was not the first king of reason, Keynes wrote after reading Newton’s unpublished manuscripts. Instead “he was the last of the magicians”.

   2014 June 21, “Magician’s brain”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8892, archived from the original on 04 Nov 2018

2. uncountableusuallyConformity to fact or reality; correctness, accuracy.

   There was some truth in his statement that he had no other choice.

   1 more example

   As in much of biology, the most satisfying truths in ecology derive from manipulative experimentation. Tinker with nature and quantify how it responds.

   2012 January 28, Robert M. Pringle, “How to Be Manipulative”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 1, page 31

3. uncountableusuallyThe state or quality of being true to someone or something.

   Truth to one's own feelings is all-important in life.

4. archaicuncountableusuallyFaithfulness, fidelity.

   Alas! they had been friends in youth; / But whispering tongues can poison truth; […]

   1800, S[amuel] T[aylor] Coleridge, “Christabel. Part II.”, in Christabel: Kubla Khan, a Vision: The Pains of Sleep, London: […] John Murray, […], by William Bulmer and Co. […], published 1816, →OCLC, page 32

5. obsoleteuncountableusuallyA pledge of loyalty or faith.
6. uncountableusuallyConformity to rule; exactness; close correspondence with an example, mood, model, etc.

   Ploughs, […] to make them go true, […] depends much upon the truth of the ironwork.

   1707, J[ohn] Mortimer, The Whole Art of Husbandry; or, The Way of Managing and Improving of Land. […], London: […] J[ohn] H[umphreys] for H[enry] Mortlock […], and J[onathan] Robinson […], →OCLC

   1 more example

   The process of grinding is, in fact, regarded as indispensable wherever truth is required, yet that of scraping is calculated to produce a higher degree of truth than has ever been attained by grinding.

   1840, Joseph Whitworth, A Paper on Plane Metallic Surfaces or True Planes

7. uncountableusuallyThat which is real, in a deeper sense; spiritual or ‘genuine’ reality.

   The truth is what is.

   2 more examples

   Alcoholism and redemption led me finally to truth.

   "Beauty is truth, truth beauty,"—that is all / Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.

   1819 May, John Keats, “Ode on a Grecian Urn”, in Lamia, Isabella, the Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems, London: […] [Thomas Davison] for Taylor and Hessey, […], published 1820, →OCLC, stanza 5, page 116

8. countableusuallySomething acknowledged to be true; a true statement or axiom.

   Hunger and jealousy are just eternal truths of human existence.

   1 more example

   It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.

   1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], Pride and Prejudice: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC

9. dateduncountableusuallynatural sciencesTopness; the property of a truth quark.
10. uncountableusuallygamesIn the game truth or dare, the choice to truthfully answer a question put forth.

    When asked truth or dare, he picked truth.

present singular third person truths · participle present truthing · participle past truthed · past truthed · alternative obsolete trewth

1. obsoletetransitiveTo assert as true; to declare; to speak truthfully.

   c. 1636 John Ford, The Fancies Chaste and Noble Had they [the ancients] dreamt this, they would have truthed it heaven.

   1 more example

   You were sitting with your family Thanksgiving, belly full of turkey and pie, surrounded by the love of your extended crime family, but your initial instinct was to truth a slur at Tim Walz?

   2025 December 1, Jon Stewart, “Trump Berates Reporters, Gets Mystery MRI & Closes Border to (Non-White) Immigrants”https://youtu.be/4STrDD7leEM?t=325s, The Daily Show, Comedy Central

2. To make exact; to correct for inaccuracy.

   This database, which consisists of nearly 180,000 characters, was manually truthed.

   2003, Advances in Pattern Recognition ICAPR2003, →ISBN, page 67

   2 more examples

   A concentrated region of the agricultural test area was intensively ground truthed, not only to identify the crop types, but equally important, also to begin to determine the parameters controlling the radar energy reflected from a crop type at a particular stage of growth.

   1974, Proceedings of the International Symposium on Remote Sensing of Environment, page 226

   As is shown in this table, APG images in the validation subset were only truthed with box models, and the 29P images in this subset were never truthed at all.

   1990, Advanced Infrared Technology - Part 2, page cxxvi

3. intransitivenonstandardTo tell the truth.

   You keep lying, when you oughta be truthin'

   1966, Nancy Sinatra, These Boots Are Made for Walkin'

plural Truths

1. social mediaAn entry posted on the Truth Social platform.First known use 2022

   And yet, I still wasn’t adequately prepared for the immersive experience of scrolling through hundreds of his Truths and ReTruths. Even for Trump, this feed manages to shock.

   2024 September 24, Charlie Warzel, “The Trump Posts You Probably Aren’t Seeing”, in The Atlantic, archived from the original on 24 Sep 2024

   1 more example

   The app's design looks like a clone of Twitter. Users can create a profile that shows who they're following. You're able to comment, share and like posts, which are called Truths.

   [2022 August 19, Queenie Wong, “Trump's Truth Social Sees Uptick in Users After FBI's Mar-a-Lago Search”, in CNET, archived from the original on 01 Sep 2022