ADJ.

absolute, gospel

(informal),

honest

(informal),

real

She takes everything she reads in the paper as gospel truth.

| full, whole

It still doesn't make sense to me?I don't think he's told us the whole truth.

| exact, literal | naked, plain, simple

The simple truth is he's lost his job.

| underlying | awful, bitter, cruel, dreadful, hard, harsh, horrible, horrid, painful, sad, shocking, terrible, unpalatable, unpleasant, unwelcome

the shocking truth about heroin addiction among the young The sad truth is he never loved her.

| objective | empirical, historical, moral, poetic, psychological, religious, scientific, spiritual

It's a good film but contains little historical truth.

| unvarnished

The unvarnished truth was revealed after a thorough investigation.

| divine

QUANT.

element, grain

There may have been a grain of truth in what he said.

VERB + TRUTH

know

So now you know the truth. If the truth be known, I was afraid to tell anyone.

| admit, speak, tell (sb)

He was reminded of his duty to speak the truth when questioned in court. I'm sure she's telling the truth. To tell you the truth, I'm rather dreading his return.

| establish, discover, find out, get at, learn, reveal, uncover

She was determined to discover the truth about her neighbours. The journalist protested that he was only trying to get at the truth.

| guess | accept, acknowledge, face (up to) | doubt

The police doubt the truth of his statement.

| conceal, cover up, hide, suppress

You've been hiding the truth from me!

TRUTH + VERB

be, lie

We are examining the matter to see where the truth lies.

| come out, emerge

Towards the end of the letter the cruel truth emerged.

| dawn on sb

The awful truth suddenly dawned on her.

PREP.

in ~

She laughed and chatted but was, in truth (= in fact), not having much fun.

| ~ about

finding out the truth about her husband

| ~ behind

What's the truth behind all the gossip?

| ~ in

There is no truth in the rumour.

PHRASES

be economical with the truth

(= not to tell the whole truth),

nothing could be further from the truth

I know you think she's mean, but nothing could be further from the truth.

| the quest/search for (the) truth, a ring of truth

His explanation has a ring of truth to it.

| a seeker after truth

(literary) seekers after divine truth

| the truth of the matter

The truth of the matter is we can't afford to keep all the staff on.

| the truth will out

(saying) (= People will find out the true facts of a situation even if you try to keep them secret.)

ADJ.

basic, central, common, essential, eternal, fundamental, general, great, important, profound, simple, ultimate, universal

in search of the eternal truths of life

| ancient | obvious, self-evident, undeniable

We hold these truths to be self-evident …

| underlying | half, partial

His evidence was a blend of smears, half truths and downright lies.

| harsh, home, painful, unpalatable, unpleasant, unwelcome

It's time we told him a few home truths about sharing a house.

| necessary | moral, philosophical, scientific, spiritual | divine

VERB + TRUTH

establish, reveal, uncover | tell sb | accept, acknowledge, face up to

PREP.

~ about

She was forced to face up to a few unwelcome truths about her family.