Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Direct and without evasion; straightforward: synonym: frank.
  • adjective Archaic Proceeding straight ahead.
  • adverb Directly and frankly.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Straightforward; in a direct manner; straightway.
  • Straightforward; honest; direct; immediate: as, a forthright man; a forthright speech.
  • noun A straight or direct course.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adverb Archaic Straight forward; in a straight direction.
  • noun Archaic A straight path.
  • adjective Archaic Direct; straightforward.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective straightforward; not evasive; characterized by candor and directness

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective characterized by directness in manner or speech; without subtlety or evasion
  • adverb directly and without evasion; not roundabout

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

forth- +‎ right

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Examples

  • If someone were honest and forthright from the beginning, no defensive measures would be necessary.

    Peter Sumaruck II 2010

  • I thought about Clinton and how weak of attempt he made when asking for forgiveness and how he was not forthright from the get go in regards to his ex marital affair.

    Archive 2008-03-01 The Wood To The Sand 2008

  • I thought about Clinton and how weak of attempt he made when asking for forgiveness and how he was not forthright from the get go in regards to his ex marital affair.

    David vs. Bush? The Wood To The Sand 2008

  • When a Law Lord and a Labour MP can demonstrate a better grasp of liberalism and express it in forthright terms, while our parliamentary spokesman ends up batting for the opposition, what hope is there?

    Archive 2005-01-01 2005

  • When a Law Lord and a Labour MP can demonstrate a better grasp of liberalism and express it in forthright terms, while our parliamentary spokesman ends up batting for the opposition, what hope is there?

    January 2005 2005

  • Why, in a decade when public discourse about sex has become determinedly forthright, is abortion so hard to say?

    On Abortion: A Lincolnian Position 1995

  • Then he went in forthright to his daughter and her mother and his kinsfolk, and acquainting them with the King of Kabul’s demand sought counsel of them, and they said, ‘Do what seemeth good to thee.’ —

    The Book of The Thousand Nights And A Night 2006

  • Sultan Kanmakan took his sword forthright and cut off his head, saying, “Praised be Allah who hath given me life, that I might requite this traitor what he did with my father, for I have heard this very story from King Zau al-Makan himself.”

    The Book of The Thousand Nights And A Night 2006

  • Kanmakan took his sword forthright and cut off his head, saying,

    The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Volume II Anonymous 1879

  • But when he ended his words, Sultan Kanmakan took his sword forthright and cut off his head, saying, "Praised be Allah who hath given me life, that I might requite this traitor what he did with my father, for I have heard this very story from King Zau al-Makan himself."

    Arabian nights. English Anonymous 1855

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