- truth
- noun1 what is trueADJECTIVE▪ absolute, gospel (informal), honest (informal), real▪
She takes everything she reads in the paper as gospel truth.
▪ complete, entire, full, whole▪It still doesn't make sense to me—I don't think he's told us the whole truth.
▪ exact, literal▪ naked, plain, simple▪The simple truth is he's lost his job.
▪ pure, unvarnished▪the plain unvarnished truth
▪ hidden, secret▪the hidden truth behind the events of the last four years
▪ underlying▪ awful, bitter, brutal, cruel, dreadful, grim, hard, harsh, horrible, painful, sad, shocking, terrible, ugly, uncomfortable, unfortunate, unpalatable (esp. BrE), unpleasant, unwelcome▪the shocking truth about heroin addiction among the young
▪The sad truth is he never loved her.
▪ factual, objective▪ empirical, historical, moral, poetic, psychological, religious, scientific, spiritual▪It's a good movie but contains little historical truth.
▪ divine, revealed▪the revealed truth of God
… OF TRUTH▪ element, germ, glimmer, grain, kernel, nugget, ounce, shred▪There may have been a grain of truth in what he said.
VERB + TRUTH▪ know▪So now you know the truth.
▪If the truth be known, I was afraid to tell anyone.
▪ admit, convey, expose, speak, tell (sb)▪He was reminded of his duty to speak the truth when questioned in court.
▪I'm sure she's telling the truth.
▪To tell you the truth, I'm rather dreading his return.
▪ establish, discern, discover, find out, get, get at, get to, learn, reveal, uncover▪She was determined to discover the truth about her boss.
▪We're going to try to get the truth out of this boy.
▪The journalist protested that he was only trying to get at the truth.
▪ seek▪a man on a journey seeking the truth about God and humanity
▪ guess▪ accept, acknowledge, face (up to), grasp, realize▪He realized the truth in Adam's words.
▪ doubt▪The police doubt the truth of his statement.
▪ conceal, cover up, hide, suppress▪You've been hiding the truth from me!
▪ deny▪Dare anyone deny the truth of what we have said?
▪ bend, distort, stretch, twist▪Lawyers distorted the truth about the deal.
▪ handle▪He was too fragile to handle the truth.
TRUTH + VERB▪ be, lie▪We are examining the matter to see where the truth lies.
▪ come out, emerge▪Almost at the end of the letter the cruel truth emerged.
▪ dawn on sb▪The awful truth suddenly dawned on her.
PREPOSITION▪ in truth▪She laughed and chatted but was, in truth, not having much fun.
▪ truth about▪She would later find out the truth about her husband.
▪ truth behind▪What's the truth behind all the gossip?
▪ truth in▪There is no truth in these allegations.
PHRASES▪ an/the arbiter of truth▪They claim to be the arbiters of sacred truth.
▪ be economical with the truth (= not to tell the whole truth) (esp. BrE)▪ moment of truth▪Finally the moment of truth will be upon you.
▪ nothing could be further from the truth▪I know you think she's mean, but nothing could be further from the truth.
▪ the pursuit of (the) truth▪They were motivated by the pursuit of the truth.
▪ the quest for (the) truth, the search for (the) truth▪ a ring of truth▪His explanation has a ring of truth to it.
▪ a seeker after truth (literary)▪seekers after divine truth
▪ a semblance of truth▪ the truth of the matter▪The truth of the matter is we can't afford to keep all the staff on.
▪ the truth will come out, the truth will out (saying)2 fact that is trueADJECTIVE▪ basic, central, common, essential, eternal, fundamental, general, great, immutable, important, profound, simple, timeless, ultimate, universal▪in search of the eternal truths of life
▪ ancient▪ obvious, self-evident, undeniable▪We hold these truths to be self-evident …
▪ deep▪the deeper truths that often go unspoken
▪ underlying▪ half, partial▪His evidence was a blend of smears, half truths and downright lies.
▪ harsh, home, painful, uncomfortable, unpalatable (esp. BrE), unpleasant, unwelcome▪It's time we told him a few home truths about sharing a house.
▪ necessary▪ moral, philosophical, scientific▪ biblical, divine, spiritual, theological, transcendent▪Science, like theology, reveals transcendent truths about a changing world.
VERB + TRUTH▪ establish, reveal, uncover▪ tell sb▪ accept, acknowledge, face up toPREPOSITION▪ truth about▪She was forced to face up to a few unwelcome truths about her family.
Collocations dictionary. 2013.
