unvarnished
adjective
un·var·nished
ˌən-ˈvär-nisht 
1
a
: not adorned or glossed : plain, straightforward
told the unvarnished truth
2
: not coated with or as if with varnish : crude, unfinished
Synonyms
Examples of unvarnished in a Sentence
If you want my unvarnished opinion, the movie stinks.
I'm telling the unvarnished truth.
Recent Examples on the Web
By the early ’90s, fashion started worshiping new kinds of models, like the fragile-looking Kate Moss, moving away from the high-octane glamour of the ’80s and toward a more unvarnished look.
—
Eliza Brooke, New York Times, 1 Nov. 2023
What is striking, however, is how many credible news organizations are failing to describe in clear-eyed terms to their audiences — who count on them, and often pay them to deliver the unvarnished truth — what the network actually is.
—Oliver Darcy, CNN, 22 Aug. 2023
Each individual shared her unvarnished truth about the costs involved — financial, physical, and emotional — and no two stories are the same.
—Paige Stables, Allure, 16 Nov. 2023
The soon-to-be-formal settlement of the SAG-AFTRA strike, bringing actors alongside their writing brethren back to work, is unvarnished good news for a legacy media business that has had precious little of it in 2023 (or 2022 or 2021 for that matter).
—Howard Homonoff, Forbes, 13 Nov. 2023
The weekly sessions were intended for unvarnished recaps of the previous weekend’s game that helped the team process the highs and lows of each performance.
—Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 10 Nov. 2023
At the trial, prosecutors have used that testimony as the basis for an unvarnished look inside FTX’s rapid unraveling — a frantic week in November that ended in one of the largest corporate collapses in recent history.
—David Yaffe-Bellany, New York Times, 20 Oct. 2023
Dir Iram Parveen Bilal Pakistan, USA A Pakistani widow becomes an overnight sensation when her unvarnished opinions leak on to social media.
—Georg Szalai, The Hollywood Reporter, 6 Nov. 2023
By the early twentieth century, however, nationalist ideologues were already using the concept of Russian exceptionalism to defend an unvarnished militarism.
—Andrei Kolesnikov, Foreign Affairs, 22 Aug. 2023
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Eliza Brooke, New York Times, 1 Nov. 2023
What is striking, however, is how many credible news organizations are failing to describe in clear-eyed terms to their audiences — who count on them, and often pay them to deliver the unvarnished truth — what the network actually is.
—Oliver Darcy, CNN, 22 Aug. 2023
Each individual shared her unvarnished truth about the costs involved — financial, physical, and emotional — and no two stories are the same.
—Paige Stables, Allure, 16 Nov. 2023
The soon-to-be-formal settlement of the SAG-AFTRA strike, bringing actors alongside their writing brethren back to work, is unvarnished good news for a legacy media business that has had precious little of it in 2023 (or 2022 or 2021 for that matter).
—Howard Homonoff, Forbes, 13 Nov. 2023
The weekly sessions were intended for unvarnished recaps of the previous weekend’s game that helped the team process the highs and lows of each performance.
—Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 10 Nov. 2023
At the trial, prosecutors have used that testimony as the basis for an unvarnished look inside FTX’s rapid unraveling — a frantic week in November that ended in one of the largest corporate collapses in recent history.
—David Yaffe-Bellany, New York Times, 20 Oct. 2023
Dir Iram Parveen Bilal Pakistan, USA A Pakistani widow becomes an overnight sensation when her unvarnished opinions leak on to social media.
—Georg Szalai, The Hollywood Reporter, 6 Nov. 2023
By the early twentieth century, however, nationalist ideologues were already using the concept of Russian exceptionalism to defend an unvarnished militarism.
—Andrei Kolesnikov, Foreign Affairs, 22 Aug. 2023
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'unvarnished.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1605, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
Dictionary Entries Near unvarnished
Cite this Entry
“Unvarnished.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unvarnished. Accessed 11 Dec. 2023.
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Kids Definition
unvarnished
adjective
un·var·nished
ˌən-ˈvär-nisht
ˈən-
1
: not adorned or exaggerated : plain
the unvarnished truth
2
: not varnished
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