Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

kernel of truth

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.57 in modern English

Syllables: ker-nel of truth
IPA

23

Scrabble Score

13

Letters

2

Syllables

10

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A core accuracy at the heart of a claim or narrative which also contains dubious or fictitious elements.

Example Sentences

"There may be a kernel of truth in the story of how George Washington confessed to his father that he chopped down the cherry tree."
"Whether the Duke of Wellington really said of the Eton playing-fields that it was there that the battle Waterloo was won, may fairly be doubted. The story has many elements of the myth about it; but, like other myths, it has a kernel of truth."
"1955, F. Schmidl, "The problem of scientific validation in psycho-analytic interpretation," International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, vol 36 no 2 (Mar/Apr), pp. 105-113. This statement will be unacceptable to many biographers and historians, but there seems to be a definite kernel of truth in it."
"It's about a young man (Billy Crudup) who tries to distill the true biography of his dying father (Albert Finney) by looking for the kernels of truth in the many tall tales he has told."

Inflected Forms

kernels of truth (plural)

Phrases

acknowledge the corn

Frequently Paired Words

acknowledge the corn paromologia paromology

Synonyms

grain of truth

Questions

What does kernel of truth mean?: A core accuracy at the heart of a claim or narrative which also contains dubious or fictitious elements.

How to pronounce kernel of truth

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