unvarnished

English

Alternative forms

• unvarnisht (obsolete)

Etymology

un- +‎ varnished

Adjective

unvarnished (not comparable)

1. Not having been coated with varnish (or a similar surface treatment).
2. (figuratively, by extension) Natural, unmodified, unembellished, not exaggerated.

   She told the unvarnished truth.

   • 2004 June 24, Leslie Feinberg, “'The war to end all wars'”, in Workers World‎^[1]:

     There were no socialist countries or liberation movements to blame for World War I. It was a plain, unvarnished racist war for colonial empire.

   • 2008, Robert Sweeny, “This Performance Art Is for the Birds”, in Studies in Art Education, volume 49, page 138:

     The unprofessional production of the skits, shot on handheld digital video without the assistance of a 'steady cam' device, contributes to their unvarnished allure.

   • 2021, Otto English, Fake History, page 35:

     Boris Johnson the "ersatz Churchill" needed the real one to remain untouchable and unvarnished to serve his own narrative as his latter-day incarnation.

Translations

not having been coated with varnish

• German: unbehandelt (de)
• Manx: gyn follid

natural, unmodified, unembellished, not exaggerated

• German: ungeschminkt (de) (truth)
• Manx: lhome
• Swedish: osminkad (sv)