Truth-teller

n.thoughtful, resilientwarm

What it means

A person who speaks accurately and candidly, especially when doing so is difficult.

Reach for it when praising courageous honesty supported by care, evidence, and accountability

The truth-teller showed the board where her own forecast had failed.

playful
straight shooter
when candid reliability suits informal American speech
not when Straight shooter can praise bluntness even when accuracy or tact is missing.
warm
candid voice
when openness within a group deserves gentle praise
not when Candid voice is descriptive but does not establish factual accuracy.
professional
fact-checker
when verifying claims is the actual role
not when A fact-checker may work silently and need not be the person speaking publicly.
professional
honest broker
when trusted neutrality helps parties understand facts
not when An honest broker mediates interests; a truth-teller may openly take a side.
professional
whistleblower
when someone exposes wrongdoing from inside an organization
not when Whistleblower is a legally and ethically specific role, not any candid speaker.
formal
veracious witness
when reliable truthfulness in testimony is the precise claim
not when The phrase is legalistic and too narrow for everyday moral courage.
literary
speaker of hard truths
when unwelcome honesty is the defining act
not when Hard-truth language can become cover for cruelty or unsupported pessimism.

fearless truth-teller
The fearless truth-teller documented each claim before the hearing.
respected truth-teller
A respected truth-teller, he corrected allies as readily as opponents.
public truth-teller
The public truth-teller refused to turn uncertainty into certainty.

Accuracy and responsibility matter; bluntness alone does not make someone a truth-teller.

The definition and the example on this page are written here. The dictionaries above ground which meaning is being described, not the wording.