as in honesty
the free expression of one's true feelings and opinions
I valued her forthrightness in telling me she didn't like being called "Susie"
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Recent Examples of forthrightness
Your forthrightness will set the tone for future dates.
—
Daniel De Visé,
USA Today,
6 June 2026
There’s something both startling and seductive about such forthrightness.
—
Jeremy Lybarger,
Artforum,
2 June 2026
To say we are disappointed by the lack of urgency and forthrightness from the city attorney’s office is an understatement.
—
City News Service,
Daily News,
8 Apr. 2026
Fortune spoke with six people who have invested in Anthropic to get a sense of how this key constituency is feeling about the situation, and found that opinions were not unified despite the company’s longstanding forthrightness about its values.
—
Jessica Mathews,
Fortune,
5 Mar. 2026
Monique’s penchant for forthrightness, almost to the point of abruptness, is what makes her reintegration to the cast fascinating already.
—
Shamira Ibrahim,
Vulture,
24 Nov. 2025
For parents, the name of the game is forthrightness.
—
Nona Han,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
20 Aug. 2025
The elections have vindicated Move Forward’s forthrightness, confirming that citizens want a national conversation about the monarchy.
—
Tamara Loos,
Foreign Affairs,
25 May 2023
Daniel De Visé,
USA Today,
6 June 2026
There’s something both startling and seductive about such forthrightness.
—
Jeremy Lybarger,
Artforum,
2 June 2026
To say we are disappointed by the lack of urgency and forthrightness from the city attorney’s office is an understatement.
—
City News Service,
Daily News,
8 Apr. 2026
Fortune spoke with six people who have invested in Anthropic to get a sense of how this key constituency is feeling about the situation, and found that opinions were not unified despite the company’s longstanding forthrightness about its values.
—
Jessica Mathews,
Fortune,
5 Mar. 2026
Monique’s penchant for forthrightness, almost to the point of abruptness, is what makes her reintegration to the cast fascinating already.
—
Shamira Ibrahim,
Vulture,
24 Nov. 2025
For parents, the name of the game is forthrightness.
—
Nona Han,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
20 Aug. 2025
The elections have vindicated Move Forward’s forthrightness, confirming that citizens want a national conversation about the monarchy.
—
Tamara Loos,
Foreign Affairs,
25 May 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for forthrightness
Noun
-
Blunt honesty had clicked with a relentless desire for improvement, launching a professional partnership and personal friendship that greatly enriched the careers of both men and, in time, would meaningfully alter the course of Chelsea history.
-
What drew him to the exchange wasn’t controversy, but honesty.
Noun
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When an audience member posed a hypothetical choice between a flawed but distinctive film and a polished but unremarkable one, Leung said either would do, arguing that cinema’s goal was sincerity, in performance or in a director’s expression, rather than polish.
-
Just when there are emotional moments of sincerity about healthcare denials causing bankruptcy and even death, the tone shifts with a joke about fan girls sending Mangione their underwear.
Noun
-
Seydoux asks me in a moment of frankness.
-
Her love for the city is palpable, imbued with her frankness, her fun, her queerness, and her history.
Noun
-
But where her labelmates routinely drape their songs in warm, dense fuzz, Babuka Black opts for clarity and directness.
-
His filmmaking has a lovely, homespun directness.
Noun
-
With his usual bluntness, Jokic said the Nuggets weren’t a good enough team to win last season based on the results.
-
And thanks to his bluntness, something clicked.
Noun
-
But the Windows handheld software experience on the Claw is just awful compared to the straightforwardness of SteamOS on the Steam Deck.
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On Monday morning, Starmer, whose resignation has appeared inevitable for some time, delivered the news with his customary straightforwardness.
Noun
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Did Hamilton’s candor help salvage a political career in tatters?
-
Strong integrity, without humility or collaboration, becomes rigidity—as seen in Steve Jobs, whose candor fueled innovation but hardened relationships.
Noun
-
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.
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His outspokenness has spurred discourse among country music's Republican-leaning audience.
Cite this Entry
“Forthrightness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/forthrightness. Accessed 28 Jun. 2026.
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