truth to tell

interjection

Actually; frankly; as a matter of fact.

Similar
truth be toldif truth be told
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

interjection
  1. set phraseActually; frankly; as a matter of fact.

    Truth to tell, the supper had been waiting a most unreasonable time.

    1838, Charles Dickens, chapter 51, in Oliver Twist
    3 more examples

    Haggerty had his trouble for nothing. There was no clue whatever in Lord Monckton's suite. . . . Truth to tell, Haggerty had not expected to find anything.

    1915, Harold MacGrath, chapter 13, in The Voice In The Fog

    In 1999 the American bishops mandated that if a college wanted to call itself Catholic, its theologians needed a bishop's good-housekeeping seal. And yet, truth to tell, the majority of Catholic schools hadn't really toed the line.

    2008 April 17, David Van Biema, “The Pope on Academic Freedom”, in Time, retrieved 07 Jul 2015

    I am a huge fan [of farting]. Well, truth to tell I am more than a simple fan for having studied the act of breaking wind for most of my life I consider myself to be far more than a simple aficionado[…]

    2012, Dougie Brimson, Art of Fart, →ISBN

    Synonyms: truth be told, if truth be told

Synonyms & antonyms

interjectionActually; frankly; as a matter of fact.

Similar
truth be toldif truth be told
Also see
as a matter of factfranklytruth be told
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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