frankly
advUK /fɹæŋkli/ · US /fɹæŋkli/
Etymology From frank + -ly.
1
In a frank or candid manner, especially in a way that may seem too open, excessively honest, or slightly blunt.
- to speak frankly
- He spoke frankly about the economy.
2 more examples
- 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.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:
- 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.2023 November 28, Jill Filipovic, “Opinion: Elon Musk’s Israel tour was transparently transactional and insulting”, in CNN:
2
In truth, to tell the truth.
Sentence adverb
- Most of what they said was, frankly, a pack of lies.
- Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.1939, Gone with the Wind, spoken by Rhett Butler (Clark Gable):
3
Medicine, Sciences To a degree large enough as to be plainly evident.
- frankly septic
- frankly psychotic