Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

tell the truth

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.93 in modern English

Syllables: tel-l the truth
IPA

18

Scrabble Score

12

Letters

2

Syllables

6

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see tell, truth.

phrase

Used to positively assert the frank honesty of an associated statement of set of statements; equivalent to "to tell the truth".

Informal

Example Sentences

"That year a U.S. appeals court found the program Snowden had exposed was unlawful and that the U.S. intelligence leaders who publicly defended it were not telling the truth."
"Then it sneezed. Considering what it was smelling, that was no surprise. Tell the truth, I'd gotten so used to the jof jof dung that I didn't notice it anymore."

Usage

Informal

Inflected Forms

tells the truth (present, singular) telling the truth (participle, present) told the truth (participle, past) told the truth (past)

Phrases

tell the truth and shame the devil tell you the truth

Frequently Paired Words

tell the truth and shame the devil tell you the truth

Synonyms

frankly honestly tell you the truth

Questions

What does tell the truth mean?: Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see tell, truth.

How to pronounce tell the truth

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