upfront
Britishadjective
adverb
Explanation
If you're an open and straightforward person, you're upfront. And if your cousin asks what you think of his weird new haircut, you'll be upfront with him and tell the truth. If you prefer being flattered, you might not appreciate your brother's upfront pronouncement that your new pants are way too small or you've got spinach in your teeth. But most of us like knowing that our friends are being upfront and honest with us. Another way to use this adjective is to mean "in advance" when you're talking about a payment: "She wants the cash upfront, before she hands over the cupcakes."
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.
Ticket reseller StubHub UK has been ordered to refund more than 50,000 customers and pay a £900,000 fine for not showing people the total price upfront when buying tickets.
From BBC • Jun. 23, 2026
You can save on upfront fees that way.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 23, 2026
"Our UK platform is designed to display all fees upfront," it said, adding that it had "identified and corrected the issue promptly, and all affected customers will receive an automatic refund".
From BBC • Jun. 23, 2026
He feared his business would fall short of generating the income needed to cover the upfront cost of the orchard leases, noting some had abandoned their contracts entirely.
From Barron's • Jun. 21, 2026
“Yeah, well, you should’ve been upfront about that too,” I say angrily.
From "Amari and the Night Brothers" by B.B. Alston
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
