truth be told

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English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Ellipsis of if the truth should be told.

Pronunciation

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Interjection

truth be told

  1. (idiomatic) Used when admitting something one might otherwise lie about, e.g. to keep up appearances or be polite.
    Synonyms: admittedly, frankly, to be honest, to tell the truth, truth to tell; see also Thesaurus:actually
    I'm not sure if I can do this, truth be told.
    Actually, truth be told, I just don't like you.
    • 2006, V For Vendetta (movie adaptation)
      Well, certainly there are those who are more responsible than others - and they will be held accountable - but again, truth be told, if you're looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror.
    • 2023 March 15, Kevin Roose, “GPT-4 Is Exciting and Scary”, in The New York Times‎:
      When I opened my laptop on Tuesday to take my first run at GPT-4, the new artificial intelligence language model from OpenAI, I was, truth be told, a little nervous.

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