home truth

American  

noun

1. an indisputable fact or basic truth, especially one whose accuracy may cause discomfort or embarrassment.

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home truth British  

noun

1. (often plural) an unpleasant fact told to a person about himself

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home truth Idioms  

1. A key or basic truth, especially one that is discomforting to acknowledge. For example, It's time you told a few home truths here, such as where your campaign finances actually came from. This expression uses home in the sense of “the very heart of a matter.” [c. 1700]

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Etymology

Origin of home truth

First recorded in 1705–15

Example Sentences

Margaret, who in Morgan’s hands becomes a cross between a Shakespearean fool and Billy Wilder’s faded film star, Norma Desmond, is always on hand to administer an infusion of passive-aggressive home truth.

From New York Times • Nov. 6, 2019

Left out, especially, is the home truth that the Catholic Church has changed already.

From New York Times • Apr. 9, 2018

Jefferson, Brandeis, the Roosevelts all recognized this home truth.

From The Guardian • Sep. 17, 2016

This is a Houellebecq home truth, but a stale, ungenerous one—one that does not extend the same consideration that many women have undoubtedly extended his work.

From Slate • Oct. 6, 2015

He was much more affected by Beatrice's evident perturbation than Beatrice was by his home truth, and was much slower in recovering.

From The Whirligig of Time by Williams, Wayland Wells