speak truth to power
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English
Etymology
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Verb
speak truth to power (third-person singular simple present speaks truth to power, present participle speaking truth to power, simple past spoke truth to power, past participle spoken truth to power)
- To address facts to an authority or a superior, especially in the face of risk to oneself.
- 2011 July 18, John Cassidy, “Mastering the Machine”, in The New Yorker, →ISSN:
- He was tired of corporate politics and craved a setting where people spoke truth to power, but, he said, it took him a while to get used to dealing with Dalio.
- 2025 May 10, Massimo Faggioli, quotee, “Chicagoan pope not afraid of speaking truth to power in US”, in FT Weekend, page 3:
- “Once, we needed to have a pope who would speak in favour of human rights in Russia and China,” said Massimo Faggioli . “You now need someone who can speak truth to American power.”
- For more quotations using this term, see Citations:speak truth to power.
Related terms
See also
References
- “speak truth to power”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.