English

Verb

tell the truth

1. Used other than as an idiom: see tell,‎ truth.

Phrase

tell the truth

1. (idiomatic, informal) Used to positively assert the frank honesty of an associated statement of set of statements; equivalent to "to tell the truth".
   • 1991, Mike Sirota, Bicycling Through Space and Time:

     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 notes

• Used bracketed by punctuation, especially commas, dashes, or parentheses.
• Less intimate than tell you the truth.

Synonyms

• (asserting frank honesty of statement): frankly, honestly, tell you the truth

Related terms

• tell you the truth

Translations