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PlainSpell

forthright

/ˈfɔɹθˌɹaɪt/adjective, adverb

forthright is spelled F-O-R-T-H-R-I-G-H-T: 10 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 37,943rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, forthright means “Straightforward; not evasive; candid and direct” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in forthright?

Letters10: F-O-R-T-H-R-I-G-H-T
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writingabout once in every 2 million words; the 37,943rd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is forthright?

Forthright appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 37,943rd most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce forthright?

  • UK /ˈfɔːθˌɹaɪt/
  • US /ˈfɔɹθˌɹaɪt/

As an adverb (“Expressly, frankly, unhesitatingly”): /fɔːθˈɹaɪt/.

Forthright has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-forthright.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-forthright2.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of forthright

  • more forthright comparative
  • most forthright superlative

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does forthright mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Straightforward; not evasive; candid and direct.

    The witness was considered eminently credible thanks to her forthright answers.

  2. 2

    Frank, outspoken.

  3. 3

    Markedly simple.

  4. 4

    Fixed; settled; decided.

  5. 5

    archaicProceeding straight forth.

adverb

  1. 1

    Expressly, frankly, unhesitatingly.

  2. 2

    At once, forthwith.

  3. 3

    Swiftly.

  4. 4

    archaicStraight forward, in a straight direction.

noun

  1. 1

    archaicA straight path.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Forthright in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchdirect, sans hésitation (straightforward; not evasive), franc (frank, outspoken)
Germangeradeaus, direkt (straightforward; not evasive), unverblümt (frank, outspoken)
Spanishfranco, directo (straightforward; not evasive)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does forthright come from?

From Middle English forþright, forþriʒt, forþriht, from Old English forþriht (“direct, plain”). By surface analysis, forth + right.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

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