Truthfulness
n.thoughtful, kindprofessional
What it means
The quality of being honest and accurate in expression.
Reach for it when praising a pattern of candor that includes correction of mistakes
His truthfulness helped rebuild confidence after the reporting error.
Choose between these
7- playful
straight shooting
when informal praise for direct honesty fits
not when The idiom sounds macho and confuses bluntness with complete truthfulness.
- everyday
when sincere conduct and absence of deceit matter
not when Honesty is broader and allows factual mistakes.
- warm
when genuine feeling or intention matters
not when A sincere person can repeat false information.
- professional
accuracy
when correctness can be checked
not when Accuracy can occur accidentally and says nothing about honesty.
- formal
when frank disclosure is central
not when Candor may be selective and does not guarantee accuracy.
- formal
forthrightness
when direct, non-evasive expression matters
not when Forthrightness can be blunt and still omit relevant facts.
- formal
when factual reliability of a statement or source is assessed
not when Veracity is technical and less about moral character.
Said against
3- dishonesty
- deceit
- falsity
It naturally appears in
3- value truthfulness
Editors value truthfulness more than a falsely tidy narrative.
- reputation for truthfulness
Her reputation for truthfulness survived because she corrected small errors publicly.
- truthfulness of
The court considered the truthfulness of the account separately from its completeness.
The word family
2Where this comes from
- Wiktionary, English noun sense: the quality of telling or expressing truth opens in a new tab · retrieved 2026-07-26
The definition and the example on this page are written here. The dictionaries above ground which meaning is being described, not the wording.