How to Use to tell the truth in a Sentence

to tell the truth

idiom
  • At the start of the hearing, the boy raised his right hand and swore to tell the truth.
    Keith L. Alexander, Washington Post, 1 Nov. 2023
  • This had to have all the warts in it in order to tell the truth.
    USA TODAY, 17 Mar. 2024
  • He was asked to raise his right hand and swear to tell the truth.
    Hannah Dreier, New York Times, 14 Dec. 2023
  • Only the people on the witness stand have to swear to god to tell the truth.
    Jim Ryan, Forbes, 29 Nov. 2023
  • The most effective lie is, of course, to tell the truth, but partly.
    Washington Post Opinions Staff, Washington Post, 28 June 2024
  • But the most difficult duel, to tell the truth, was the last one with horses.
    Georg Szalai, The Hollywood Reporter, 5 July 2023
  • Because Knowles-Carter was raised in a household where young girls were told to tell the truth and shame the devil.
    TIME, 14 Feb. 2024
  • Truth has power, but only if there are people around to tell the truth.
    Matthew Salesses, TIME, 7 May 2024
  • The trial had required him to tell the truth, leaving him unmasked.
    Mike Spies, The New Yorker, 23 Feb. 2024
  • Christie made his announcement at an event in New Hampshire saying that he's been in the race to tell the truth.
    Taylor Wilson, USA TODAY, 11 Jan. 2024
  • When Cohen took the stand midday and swore to tell the truth, Trump sat a few feet away at the defense table—cross-armed and stone-faced.
    Jacob Gershman, WSJ, 24 Oct. 2023
  • So this is going to be an opportunity for Devin Archer, just to tell the truth.
    Ashley Carnahan, Fox News, 30 July 2023
  • Any witnesses who testify must swear an oath to tell the truth.
    Kate Brumback, Chicago Tribune, 11 July 2023
  • What’s more, Baker has intel from Conover (a.k.a. Wallace), who wants to tell the truth now that he’s been outed as a double agent.
    Keith Phipps, Vulture, 19 Apr. 2024
  • Madina discovers within her a resilience and courage to tell the truth.
    Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 24 Oct. 2023
  • This granddaughter teaches us to tell the truth, to get uncomfortable truths out in the open, to deal with reality.
    Chris John Amorosino, Hartford Courant, 8 Jan. 2024
  • The reason for Kate Middleton’s prolonged absence might be melodramatic or mundane, but no one trusts the Palace to tell the truth.
    Dani Di Placido, Forbes, 28 Feb. 2024
  • Carmichael describes the process here as an attempt at a self-Truman Show, forcing himself to tell the truth by surrounding himself with cameras.
    Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 26 Mar. 2024
  • For such a regime to survive, the notion that democracy rests on the courage to tell the truth must be eliminated with violence if it cannot be laughed out of existence.
    Timothy Snyder, Foreign Affairs, 6 Sep. 2022
  • Less than half of respondents expected journalists and government officials to tell the truth.
    Jacob Turcotte, The Christian Science Monitor, 15 Mar. 2024
  • Peck uses Cole’s letters, grant application, interviews and testimonies from the photographer’s friends and family to construct a deeply moving portrait of an artist who sacrificed his life to tell the truth.
    Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 May 2024
  • We’re given a President (Nick Offerman) in his third term who has abandoned the American people, committed air strikes against them, and denied journalists any opportunity to tell the truth.
    Richard Newby, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 Apr. 2024
  • However, diversity doesn't really matter unless leadership has created a culture where their teams feel safe to tell the truth.
    Expert Panel®, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'to tell the truth.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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