Word family noun truth ≠ untruth truthfulness adjective true ≠ untrue truthful ≠ untruthful adverb truly truthfully ≠ untruthfully true
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishtruthtruth /truːθ/ ●●● S1 W2 noun 1 → the truth2 being true [uncountable]TRUE the state or quality of being truetruth in There was some truth in the accusations.grain/element of truth (=small amount of truth) There wasn’t a grain of truth in what he said. There was an element of truth (=a small amount of truth) in what he said. There is no truth in the rumour.3 important ideas [countable usually plural] formalTRUEIDEA an important fact or idea that is accepted as being true The experience has taught us some basic truths.an unhappy/unpleasant/unwelcome truth (=an unpleasant or disappointing fact) It is in his interest to hide unhappy truths about his agency’s performance.4 → in truth5 → if (the) truth be known/told6 → to tell (you) the truth7 → nothing could be further from the truth8 → the truth will out → half-truth, home truth, → the moment of truth at moment(16)COLLOCATIONSverbstell the truthIt’s better to tell the truth.speak the truthHe always spoke the truth, whether it was popular or not.know the truthAt last I knew the truth about my father’s death.find out/discover/uncover the truthShe was determined to find out the truth.learn the truthWhen she learns the truth, she may decide to help us.get at/to the truth informal (=discover the truth)The police will eventually get to the truth of the matter.reveal the truthShe’d promised never to reveal the truth.accept/admit the truthOur pride kept us from admitting the truth.be/come close to the truthThe book comes a little too close to the truth for their liking.get the truth out of somebody (=make someone tell you the truth)I’ll get the truth out of her, whatever it takes!ADJECTIVES/NOUN + truththe whole/full truthInvestors should have been told the whole truth.the simple/plain/naked truth (=the truth, with nothing added, left out, or hidden)The simple truth is that there isn’t enough money to pay for it.the sad/painful truth (=something that is true but that you regret)She still misses him, and that’s the sad truth.the awful/terrible/dreadful etc truthShe could not bring herself to tell them the awful truth.the honest truth (=used to emphasize that you are telling the truth)We never came here to steal anything, and that’s the honest truth.the gospel truth (=the complete truth)Don’t take everything she says as the gospel truth.phrasesthe truth of the matterThe truth of the matter is that we don’t know what really happened.COMMON ERRORS ► Don’t say ‘say the truth’. Say tell the truth. Examples from the Corpus
truth• One of the basic truths about human beings is that we want our lives to have meaning.• Science is based around the search for truth.• fundamental truths about human nature• Ellis explains how truth and freedom are linked.• I could let it glow like truth in its own light.• There is no truth to the rumors about him being arrested.• But the truth was that I could not do this kind of traveling alone.• But United Nations officials called for caution, saying a government investigation was necessary to discover the truth.• But then another soundless glance brought home the truth.• There the truth may by now be known.• Whatever the truth, it is always convenient to blame outsiders for creating trouble.grain/element of truth• But there is also an element of truth.• And the word can only be out this far if it has an element of truth in it.• There is more than just an element of truth in this conception.• Mere speculation or is there an element of truth about one of their stories for once????• True, most of these beliefs contain grains of truth, but their omnipotent power does not survive close scrutiny.• These two true incidents have in their implications a strange grain of truth.• There were elements of truth in this critique, Jim supposed.basic truths• And if religion was rational, and basic truths were plain, what justification could there be for compulsion?• If your ambition takes this line, there are certain basic truths that you will have to recognise.• Another over-eager cat has discovered one of the basic truths of garden life: never try to kill a toad.• The basic truths of it, once you have learned them, are difficult to forget.• What have been taught as their basic truths seem no longer to hold.• The value of the political talks so far has been to expose three basic truths.• Such leaders understand very basic truths about human beings.Origin truth Old English treowth “faithfulness” 