to be honest
221
2.3
- idiom
- Informal
:
sinceramente
- I wanted to impress her and, to be honest, myself as well.
- Well, to be honest
- said, 'to be honest'
And that is that to be honest, I didn't notice.
- And that is that to be honest, I didn't notice.
- And man, to be honest, like it was really tough.
- But yeah, very frustrating read to be honest, which you'll see.
- And I was like, Pops, to be honest with you, I don't like track.
- But I think to be honest with you, we simply don't know.
- But yeah, I to be honest, I'm not like a fashion girly.
- You said no, to be honest, no, maybe in the future.
Examples
-
To be honest with you, we're not sure robbery is the motive in this case.
-
To be honest with you, There's not much to tell at the moment.
-
But my face feels and looks, to be honest, kind of dry.
-
And man, to be honest, like it was really tough.
-
Well, I have to be honest with you, then.
-
I have to be honest.
-
And I need for you to be honest with me, too.
Fiction book (1994) -
Regardless, members were expected to be honest about current drug use and respect other group members.
Academic text (2007) -
Danny, I'm gonna be honest with you.
-
To be honest, I think we all need to be more open about our feelings.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
In a real and honest way
∞
3.2
In an honest and direct way that may upset or surprise
691
1.1
Said when you want to stress that you really mean what you say
48
3.2
To say something that is true even if it is surprising
28
4.1
In an honest, direct way without hiding your true thoughts
17
3.7
To tell the truth to show you really mean it
17
5.6
You say it to show you are honest, even if it sounds awkward
7
6.7
In a direct and honest way without hiding anything
Antonyms
How Frank
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase literally combines 'be' + 'honest' so a learner who knows those words can readily infer it signals sincerity or frankness (equivalent to 'honestly' or 'to tell the truth'). Its meaning follows directly from the constituents and this discourse‑marker use is cross‑linguistically common, so it is immediately comprehensible to a B1 learner.
Etymology
The phrase to be honest may come from the habit of starting a remark with a small promise, literally saying to be honest to show you will tell the truth. That's why to be honest now signals the speaker is being 'sincere' or 'frank'.