truth S1 W2 /truːθ/ BrE AmE noun
[ Word Family: adverb : ↑ truly , ↑ truthfully ≠ ↑ untruthfully , ↑ true ; noun : ↑ truth ≠ ↑ untruth , ↑ truthfulness ; adjective : ↑ true ≠ ↑ untrue , ↑ truthful ≠ ↑ untruthful ]
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: treowth 'faithfulness' ]
1 . TRUE FACTS the truth the true facts about something, rather than what is untrue, imagined, or guessed OPP lie , falsehood , untruth :
How do we know you’re telling us the truth?
the truth about
She hoped to find out the truth about her family.
the truth behind
We’ll never know the truth behind what happened.
2 . BEING TRUE [uncountable] the state or quality of being true
truth in
There was some truth in the accusations.
grain/element of truth (=small amount of truth)
There wasn’t a grain of truth in what he said.
There was an element of truth (=a small amount of truth) in what he said.
There is no truth in the rumour.
3 . IMPORTANT IDEAS [countable usually plural] formal an important fact or idea that is accepted as being true:
The experience has taught us some basic truths.
an unhappy/unpleasant/unwelcome truth (=an unpleasant or disappointing fact)
It is in his interest to hide unhappy truths about his agency’s performance.
4 . in truth in fact SYN really :
Early independence leaders were in truth little better than rebels.
5 . if (the) truth be known/told used when telling someone the real facts about a situation, or your real opinion:
If the truth be known, I felt a little left out at school.
6 . to tell (you) the truth spoken used when giving your personal opinion or admitting something:
To tell the truth, I was frightened to death.
7 . nothing could be further from the truth used to say that something is definitely not true
8 . the truth will out old-fashioned used to say that even if you try to stop people from knowing something, they will find out in the end
⇨ ↑ half-truth , ↑ home truth , ⇨ the moment of truth at ↑ moment (15)
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COLLOCATIONS
■ verbs
▪ tell the truth
It's better to tell the truth.
▪ speak the truth
He always spoke the truth, whether it was popular or not.
▪ know the truth
At last I knew the truth about my father’s death.
▪ find out/discover/uncover the truth
She was determined to find out the truth.
▪ learn the truth
When she learns the truth, she may decide to help us.
▪ get at/to the truth informal (=discover the truth)
The police will eventually get to the truth of the matter.
▪ reveal the truth
She’d promised never to reveal the truth.
▪ accept/admit the truth
Our pride kept us from admitting the truth.
▪ be/come close to the truth
The book comes a little too close to the truth for their liking.
▪ get the truth out of somebody (=make someone tell you the truth)
I’ll get the truth out of her, whatever it takes!
■ adjectives/NOUN + truth
▪ the whole/full truth
Investors should have been told the whole truth.
▪ the simple/plain/naked truth (=the truth, with nothing added, left out, or hidden)
The simple truth is that there isn’t enough money to pay for it.
▪ the sad/painful truth (=something that is true but that you regret)
She still misses him, and that’s the sad truth.
▪ the awful/terrible/dreadful etc truth
She could not bring herself to tell them the awful truth.
▪ the honest truth (=used to emphasize that you are telling the truth)
We never came here to steal anything, and that’s the honest truth.
▪ the gospel truth (=the complete truth)
Don’t take everything she says as the gospel truth.
■ phrases
▪ the truth of the matter
The truth of the matter is that we don’t know what really happened.
■ COMMON ERRORS
► Do not say ' say the truth '. Say tell the truth .