truth-telling

noun

The act of telling the truth.

Meanings

nountruth-telling (uncountable)

alternative truthtelling

  1. uncountableThe act of telling the truth.

    Or would he sharpen his rapier wit enough to do what I think he does best: hilarious social-political truth-telling that hits its targets and avoids the punching-down cheap shots against groups that are least able to defend themselves — such as transgender folks, the target that sparked protests?

    2022 November 19, Clarence Page, “Sometimes offensive comedy is just lazy laughs”, in Chicago Tribune
adjectivetruth-telling (comparative more truth-telling, superlative most truth-telling)

comparative more truth-telling · superlative most truth-telling · alternative truthtelling

  1. Telling the truth; honest, frank.

    Each self-denying single woman, like the heroine of “Some Tame Gazelle,” Pym’s first novel, is deemed “fortunate in needing very little to make her happy,” though the blunt, truthtelling housekeeper generally knows better.

    2022 May 30, Thomas Mallon, “When Barbara Pym Couldn’t Get Published”, in The New Yorker

Origin

Cite this entry
APA

truth-telling. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/truth-telling

MLA

“truth-telling.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/truth-telling. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “truth-telling,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/truth-telling.

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