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frankness

American  
[frangk-nis] / ˈfræŋk nɪs /

noun

  1. plainness of speech; candor; openness.


Other Word Forms

  • prefrankness noun

Etymology

Origin of frankness

First recorded in 1545–55; frank 1 + -ness

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“Wake me up in a hundred years, ask me what is happening in Russia,” mused Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin, a 19th-century satirist, “and I’ll tell you with my usual frankness: We steal, we drink, we make war.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 22, 2026

Billops’s questions to Van Der Zee give shape to the book’s narrative, and the subject’s frankness charms his dialogue.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 31, 2025

Judge John Woosley ruled that in “ ‘Ulysses,’ in spite of its unusual frankness, I do not detect anywhere the leer of the sensualist.”

From Slate • Aug. 21, 2025

Some in government admit that they expected a positive response to Reeves's radical frankness about what the government could and could not afford to do.

From BBC • Jun. 27, 2025

In spite of her terrifying frankness and overwhelming naïveté, he really knew nothing about her and he was tired of living with an enigma.

From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith