painful truth
Hard to hear
A painful truth is a fact or reality that causes distress to acknowledge, often because it challenges comforting beliefs or demands difficult action.
The phrase emphasizes that something is true despite being unwelcome: The painful truth is that most startups fail.
It can also be used rhetorically to lend weight to an opinion presented as fact.
- harshUnpleasantly severe or rough
- harsh realityUncomfortable actual circumstances
- bitterSharp, unpleasant taste
- bitter pillDifficult thing to accept
- realityWhat actually exists
honesty · brutal · hard to hear · raw · gut punch · uncomfortable · revelation · wake up call · awakening · moment of clarity · confession · admission · sting · wound · acceptance · come to terms · confrontation · face the music
- truthsfacts, fact, reality, verity, verities
- body metaphorsbackbone, blind spot, gut feeling, headache, heartbeat
- reality checkswake-up call, reality check, eye-opener, harsh reality, sobering moment
painful truthgood news
Favorable information received
silver lining · glad tidings · blessing in disguise · vindication · relief
painful truthwhite lie
Harmless minor falsehood
blissful ignorance · delusion · self-deception · wishful thinking · denial
painful truthgood tidings
Welcome, positive information
relief · vindication · answered prayer · dream come true · best-case scenario
painful, truth, pain, pains, pained, paining, painless, painlessly, painkiller