Tell-truth

adj, noun

adj, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    An honest and truthful person. obsolete

    "When we know a tale-teller is neer us, we are very carefull what we ſay or doe. Why? we have alwaies a tell-truth in our boſoms, where ever we go, or whatſoever we do; who will tell all to the Judge of all the world, that we think, ſpeake, or do[…]"

Adjective
  1. 1
    Exposing the truth; revealing; illuminating. obsolete

    "In short, Ovid's Imagination in his Metamorphoſes never made more unaccountable Changes, than would appear thro' ſuch a Tell-truth Mirrour […]"

Example

More examples

"When we know a tale-teller is neer us, we are very carefull what we ſay or doe. Why? we have alwaies a tell-truth in our boſoms, where ever we go, or whatſoever we do; who will tell all to the Judge of all the world, that we think, ſpeake, or do[…]"

Etymology

From tell + truth.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.