Candor: meaning, example and synonyms
Candorn. The quality of being open, honest and frank in what one says.
Example
Reviewers praised the memoir's candor, noting that the author described her early scientific failures as plainly as her eventual successes.
- Part of speech
- noun
- Synonyms
- frankness, honesty, openness, directness
- Antonyms
- evasiveness, deceit, guile, reticence
- Memory tip
- Latin candor = whiteness: a candid remark has nothing hidden.
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Check yourself: Candor in context
The scientist's ______ surprised the journalists: rather than defending her team's flawed model, she openly listed its errors and explained how they had misled the group for months.
Answer: candor. Openly admitting errors instead of defending them shows candor. Synergy (combined effect), incongruity (mismatch) and reciprocity (mutual exchange) don't fit this context.
Diplomats rarely speak with ______ in public, preferring carefully hedged statements that reveal little about their governments' true intentions.
Answer: candor. The contrast with hedged statements that reveal little points to candor, open frankness. Synergy (combined effect), incongruity (mismatch) and reciprocity (mutual exchange) don't fit this context.