bluntness

noun

Definition of bluntnessnext
as in honesty
the free expression of one's true feelings and opinions the refreshing bluntness of the former president in assessing those who followed him in the Oval Office

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of bluntness Parsons’s bluntness could change the trajectory of a star’s career with a single headline. — Lindsey Weber, Vanity Fair, 28 Sep. 2026 What Premier League clubs have shifted away from is — and apologies for the bluntness here — tolerating goalkeepers who aren’t good enough at saving shots. — Michael Cox, New York Times, 21 Aug. 2026 The Venezuela native never shied away from bluntness — and profanity — in assessing players, plays, games or whatever. — CBS News, 9 Aug. 2026 Their snobbery is juxtaposed with Carney’s friend and colleague Pepper’s unsettling bluntness and eyeball to eyeball stare. — Leigh Haber, Los Angeles Times, 20 July 2026 Tshabalala’s bluntness about the economic cost is the rare honest signal here; business will not be pacified by euphemisms. — Tiisetso Motsoeneng, semafor.com, 10 July 2026 With his usual bluntness, Jokic said the Nuggets weren’t a good enough team to win last season based on the results. — Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 26 June 2026 And thanks to his bluntness, something clicked. — Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 19 June 2026 Rise and fall But Healy, with her characteristic bluntness, didn’t sugar-coat what happened to that law. — Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, The Orlando Sentinel, 22 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bluntness
  1. honesty
  2. sincerity
  3. frankness
  4. directness
  5. forthrightness
  6. candor
  7. straightforwardness
  8. outspokenness
Noun
  • Like Kehlani and Tinashe, Jhené’s honesty transcended her commercial appeal.
    — Carl Lamarre, Billboard, 5 Oct. 2026
  • That is a fair point, but honesty cuts both ways; the factory of the past is a memory, not a reality.
    — Jeff Danielson, Chicago Tribune, 3 Oct. 2026
Definition of honesty
Noun
  • Credibility question Corbett’s own sincerity, however, has been called into question in a defamation lawsuit regarding claims made against a client’s opponent in Burr Ridge’s 2019 mayoral race.
    — Dan Petrella, Chicago Tribune, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Their sincerity and humor come from the cast’s commitment to the mundane, said Ron Oliver, writer and director of many Hallmark films.
    — Anthony Solorzano, Los Angeles Times, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of sincerity
Noun
  • The novel, published in 1988, foreshadowed the career to come by taking on, with disarming frankness, everything from child abuse to transracial adoption.
    — Casey Cep, New Yorker, 21 Sep. 2026
  • Horgan, whose Catastrophe charted the ups and downs of a relationship with painful, hilarious honesty, applies the same frankness to the minor indignities of midlife.
    — Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of frankness
Noun
  • These poems are made with some of the simplicity and directness of a song.
    — Colm Tóibín, Literary Hub, 30 Sep. 2026
  • In their directness and simplicity, Laffont’s photos evoke the style-forward photographs that Malick Sidibé was taking in Mali at that same time.
    — Lucy Sante, Vanity Fair, 21 Sep. 2026
Definition of directness
Noun
  • Alvarado has had to address that in the wake of the film’s release, and perhaps that forthrightness has aided the box office.
    — Brian Welk, IndieWire, 22 July 2026
  • Your forthrightness will set the tone for future dates.
    — Daniel de Visé, USA Today, 6 June 2026
Definition of forthrightness
Noun
  • For all of Vollmann’s willingness to explore, his candor has limits.
    — Graham Womack, Sacbee.com, 4 Oct. 2026
  • The aim is not consensus at any cost but candor that could produce better execution.
    — John Radman, Forbes.com, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of candor
Noun
  • Their impressiveness came from their straightforwardness, their precision and generosity of flavor, without needless curlicues or misguided deconstruction.
    — Bill Addison, Los Angeles Times, 27 Sep. 2026
  • What is genuinely remarkable, though, is that this meteoric machine drives with the straightforwardness of a Toyota Camry.
    — Sean Evans, Robb Report, 26 Sep. 2026
Definition of straightforwardness
Noun
  • His father’s boss and mentor, the reformer Hu Yaobang, whose death in 1989 sparked the protests in Tiananmen Square, was known for his outspokenness, which played a crucial role in his political demise.
    — Jonathan A. Czin, The Atlantic, 14 Sep. 2026
  • Her political outspokenness and fearlessness in challenging the danger women face in flaunting their sexuality, particularly in her native Argentina, is one of her strengths, as is her ability to imagine a new world where that violence doesn’t exist.
    — E.R. Pulgar, Pitchfork, 11 June 2026
Definition of outspokenness

Browse Nearby Words

bluntly
bluntness
blunts
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Cite this Entry

“Bluntness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bluntness. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

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