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

There is nothing more contemptible than a home truth that isn’t true.

From The Guardian • Jan. 9, 2019

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

The point, the subtle message of the evening, was underlining a grandmotherly home truth: You get what you pay for.

From New York Times • Sep. 6, 2012

The home truth in the first part of Carrol’s speech pleased the “governor” as little as any of his previous remarks; and, surprised at the freedom of the backwoodsman’s language, he was silent.

From The White Squaw by Reid, Mayne