BLUNTNESS Synonyms: 46 Similar and Opposite Words

bluntness

noun

Definition of bluntness

as in honesty

the free expression of one's true feelings and opinions the refreshing bluntness of the former president in assessing those who followed him in the Oval Office

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of bluntness What Premier League clubs have shifted away from is — and apologies for the bluntness here — tolerating goalkeepers who aren’t good enough at saving shots. — Michael Cox, New York Times, 21 Aug. 2026 The Venezuela native never shied away from bluntness — and profanity — in assessing players, plays, games or whatever. — CBS News, 9 Aug. 2026 Their snobbery is juxtaposed with Carney’s friend and colleague Pepper’s unsettling bluntness and eyeball to eyeball stare. — Leigh Haber, Los Angeles Times, 20 July 2026 Tshabalala’s bluntness about the economic cost is the rare honest signal here; business will not be pacified by euphemisms. — Tiisetso Motsoeneng, semafor.com, 10 July 2026 With his usual bluntness, Jokic said the Nuggets weren’t a good enough team to win last season based on the results. — Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 26 June 2026 And thanks to his bluntness, something clicked. — Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 19 June 2026 Rise and fall But Healy, with her characteristic bluntness, didn’t sugar-coat what happened to that law. — Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, The Orlando Sentinel, 22 May 2026 If a culture prizes bluntness, ask where honesty has been missing. — Sarah Davanzo, Rolling Stone, 11 May 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for bluntness

Noun

That honesty is what turns AI from an experiment into something the business can trust.

— Matt Waxman, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2026
Her raw honesty in West End Girl likely led to the album’s widespread positive reception, Allen said.

— Rachel Raposas, PEOPLE, 14 Sep. 2026

Definition of honesty

Noun

Cox’s script, meanwhile, trades increasingly in one-size-fits-all therapy speak, and despite Qualley’s natural sincerity as a performer, Maya seems steadily less specific a personality as the years pass.

— Guy Lodge, Variety, 16 Sep. 2026
Like Warhol, Rouy makes work balancing on the razor’s edge between sincerity and cynicism.

— David Lê, Curbed, 8 Sep. 2026

Definition of sincerity

Noun

The novel, published in 1988, foreshadowed the career to come by taking on, with disarming frankness, everything from child abuse to transracial adoption.

— Casey Cep, New Yorker, 21 Sep. 2026
Horgan, whose Catastrophe charted the ups and downs of a relationship with painful, hilarious honesty, applies the same frankness to the minor indignities of midlife.

— Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 18 Sep. 2026

Definition of frankness

Noun

Rather than writing traditional Broadway show tunes, Sheik and Sater created a rock score that drew on the emotional directness of alternative music.

— SPIN Staff, SPIN, 18 Sep. 2026
Palace missed Sarr’s directness, with summer signing Dwight McNeil, Eddie Nketiah and Mateta not showing a full understanding.

— Matt Woosnam, New York Times, 23 Aug. 2026

Definition of directness

Noun

The loudest alarms back then came from outsiders — misfit investors like Michael Burry and academics like Raghuram Rajan — who got plenty of grief for their candor.

— Liz Hoffman, semafor.com, 15 Sep. 2026
When a system can drop the fourth wall unprompted, ingest its own structural tells and re‑engage with unvarnished candor, the vulnerability shifts from deceptive compliance to authentic resonance.

— Terry Oroszi, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2026

Definition of candor

Noun

But the Windows handheld software experience on the Claw is just awful compared to the straightforwardness of SteamOS on the Steam Deck.

— Jay Peters, The Verge, 23 June 2026
On Monday morning, Starmer, whose resignation has appeared inevitable for some time, delivered the news with his customary straightforwardness.

— Sam Knight, New Yorker, 22 June 2026

Definition of straightforwardness

Noun

His father’s boss and mentor, the reformer Hu Yaobang, whose death in 1989 sparked the protests in Tiananmen Square, was known for his outspokenness, which played a crucial role in his political demise.

— Jonathan A. Czin, The Atlantic, 14 Sep. 2026
Her political outspokenness and fearlessness in challenging the danger women face in flaunting their sexuality, particularly in her native Argentina, is one of her strengths, as is her ability to imagine a new world where that violence doesn’t exist.

— E.R. Pulgar, Pitchfork, 11 June 2026

Definition of outspokenness

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bluntly

bluntness

blunts

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“Bluntness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bluntness. Accessed 24 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of bluntness

noun

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