being honest
Speaking without deception
Being honest is telling the truth or acting with sincerity, often used to introduce a candid admission: Being honest, I never liked him much.
The phrase signals that what follows may be uncomfortable or contrary to what the listener expects.
It functions like "to be honest" or "honestly" as a conversational marker of frankness.
- truthfulAccurate and sincere
- sincereGenuinely felt, not feigned
- candidHonest and direct
- frankOpen and direct
- genuineTruly what it claims
telling the truth · transparent · authentic · keeping it real · forthright · trustworthy · integrity · upfront · straight · straight shooter · blunt · no filter · open · direct · cards on the table · confession · coming clean · truth
- candorfrankness, directness, bluntness, candor, straightforwardness
- virtuesintegrity, justice, courage, fairness, compassion
- vulnerabilityvulnerability, vulnerable, defenselessness, defenseless, helplessness
being honestlying
Stating known falsehoods
deceiving · telling lies · fibbing · misleading · fabricating
being honestconcealing
Keeping something secret
covering up · keeping secrets · obfuscating · stonewalling · sugarcoating
being, honest, been, honesty, honestly, dishonest, dishonesty, dishonestly