frankly

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English

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Etymology

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From frank +‎ -ly.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈfɹæŋkli/
  • Hyphenation: frank‧ly
  • Audio (US):(file)

Adverb

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

  1. 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.
  2. (sentence adverb) In truth, to tell the truth.
    Most of what they said was, frankly, a pack of lies.
    • 1939, Gone with the Wind[1], spoken by Rhett Butler (Clark Gable):
      Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.
  3. (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

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Translations

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