frankly

English

Etymology

From frank +‎ -ly.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɹæŋkli/
• Hyphenation: frank‧ly

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adverb

frankly (comparative franklier or more frankly, superlative frankliest or most frankly)

2. In a frank or candid manner, especially in a way that may seem too open, excessively honest, or slightly blunt.

   • speak frankly

   He spoke frankly about the economy.

   • 1914 November, Louis Joseph Vance, “An Outsider […]”, in Munsey’s Magazine, volume LIII, number II, New York, N.Y.: The Frank A[ndrew] Munsey Company, […], published 1915, →OCLC, chapter III (Accessory After the Fact), page 382, column 2:

     She was frankly disappointed. For some reason she had expected to discover a burglar of one or another accepted type—either a dashing cracksman in full-blown evening dress, lithe, polished, pantherish, or a common yegg, a red-eyed, unshaven, burly brute in the rags and tatters of a tramp.

   • 2023 November 28, Jill Filipovic, “Opinion: Elon Musk’s Israel tour was transparently transactional and insulting”, in CNN‎^[1]:

     Musk’s Israel tour was transparently transactional and frankly insulting. The antisemitic sentiment Musk endorsed had nothing to do with Israel; “replacement theory” is generally an unsupported allegation that Jews and other immigrants in the US and Europe are destroying Western civilization.

4. (sentence adverb) In truth, to tell the truth.

   Most of what they said was, frankly, a pack of lies.

   • 1939, Gone with the Wind‎^[2], spoken by Rhett Butler (Clark Gable):

     Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.

6. (sciences, medicine) To a degree large enough as to be plainly evident.

   Coordinate terms: evidently, obviously, apparently, macroscopically, grossly, greatly, palpably

   frankly septic

   frankly psychotic

Synonyms

• (manner): candidly, forthcomingly, honestly, truthfully; bluntly; see also Thesaurus:honestly
• (sentence adverb): as a matter of fact, to be frank, truth to tell; see also Thesaurus:actually

Translations

in a frank, open or (too) honest manner

• Belarusian: шчы́ра (ščýra), адкры́та (adkrýta), пра́ма (práma), чэ́сна (čésna)
• Bulgarian: и́скрено (bg) (ískreno), открове́но (bg) (otkrovéno), пря́мо (bg) (prjámo), че́стно (bg) (čéstno)
• Danish: ærligt talt
• Dutch: ronduit (nl)
• Esperanto: malkaŝe
• Estonian: otse
• Finnish: suoraan (fi), suorapuheisesti, sanalla sanottuna
• French: franchement (fr)
• Gothic: 𐌱𐌰𐌻𐌸𐌰𐌱𐌰 (balþaba)
• Greek: ειλικρινά (el) (eilikriná)
• Hungarian: magyarán (hu)
• Italian: francamente (it)
• Japanese: 正直に (ja) (しょうじきに, shōjiki ni)
• Korean: 솔직히 (ko) (soljikhi)
• Macedonian: искрено (iskreno)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: beint fram

  Nynorsk: beintfram

• Polish: szczerze (pl), bez ogródek (pl)
• Portuguese: francamente (pt)
• Russian: пря́мо (ru) (prjámo), откры́то (ru) (otkrýto), открове́нно (ru) (otkrovénno), и́скренне (ru) (ískrenne), че́стно (ru) (čéstno)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: и̏скрено

  Roman: ȉskreno (sh)

• Spanish: francamente (es)
• Ukrainian: щи́ро (ščýro), відве́рто (vidvérto), пря́мо (prjámo), че́сно (čésno)
• Volapük: stedäliko, stedälo (vo)

(sentence adverb) In truth, to tell the truth

• Azerbaijani: sözün düzü, sözün açığı
• Finnish: suoraan sanoen, suoraan sanottuna, totta puhuakseni, jos totta puhutaan, sanalla sanottuna, sanalla sanoen
• German: ehrlich gesagt (de), um ehrlich zu sein
• Indonesian: sejujurnya
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: ærlig talt, oppriktig talt

  Nynorsk: ærleg talt

• Polish: szczerze (pl)
• Portuguese: francamente (pt)
• Russian: че́стно говоря́ (ru) (čéstno govorjá)
• Swedish: ärligt talat