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Synonyms

frankness

American  
[frangk-nis] / ˈfræŋk nɪs /

noun

  1. plainness of speech; candor; openness.


Other Word Forms

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.

See Examples For:

His frankness about local housing opposition turned him into something of a hero for the “yes in my backyard,” pro-development movement.

From The Wall Street Journal May 8, 2026

“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

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

The message had been delivered with a resounding, brutal frankness: Voters had elected her husband and not her.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

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