free-spokenadj.
/ˌfriːˈspəʊk(ə)n/, U.S. /ˌfriˈspoʊk(ə)n/ Given to speaking freely and without reserve; not concealing one's opinions; frank, blunt.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > sincerity, freedom from deceit > [adjective] > frank, candid
free-hearteda1398
plain-dealing1567
plain-spoken1582
broad1588
free-spoken1606
free1611
unminced1648
unreserved1654
candid1675
above boarda1695
unmanaged1749
unprevaricating?1782
plain-speaking1787
loud-mouthing1788
bluff1808
outspoken1808
unglossing1827
straightforward1829
unwithholdinga1834
open-spoken1852
heart-to-heart1855
blunt-spoken1877
straight1894
1606 R. Knolles tr. J. Bodin Six Bks. Common-weale ii. iv. 212 The one refuseth not to bee freely and discreetly reproued for that he hath done amisse; the other hateth nothing more than the graue free spoken man.
1625 F. Bacon Apophthegmes §176. 195 A free spoken Senatour.
1641 J. Milton Animadversions 9 These free-spoken, and plaine harted men that are the eyes of their Country.
1738 S. Johnson Vision of Heaven 22 He..is free spoken as an Emperor.
1793 C. Smith Old Manor House II. xiii. 314 Stokes..is a free spoken man.
1801 M. Edgeworth Belinda II. xvii. 170 I thought her a dashing, free-spoken, free-hearted sort of eccentric person.
1856 G. Grote Hist. Greece XII. ii. xcvi. 508 The slaughter of the free-spoken orators.
1902 Daily Herald (Delphos, Ohio) 4 Jan. 1/4 The Saturday Review prints a remarkably free-spoken editorial in which it strongly advises Great Britain to form a working alliance with Germany.
1950 R. Macaulay World my Wilderness (1983) xxvii. 199 One of those mocking, free-spoken Bohemian intellectuals.
1997 T. Chevalier Encycl. Essay 368 He was..a freelance scholar, a free-spoken lecturer, an independent priest, and a committed man of action.
Derivatives
ˌfree-ˈspokenness n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > sincerity, freedom from deceit > [noun] > frankness, straightforwardness > specifically in speech
frankness1553
freedom1585
apertness1604
ingenuity1614
unreservedness1713
unreserve1717
candour1769
free-spokenness1858
1858 W. M. Thackeray Virginians II. xxxvii. 301 Though broken-hearted by my free-spokenness, he did not refuse to speak to me as he had done at the time of our first differences.
1939 Charleston (W. Va.) Daily Mail 12 Sept. 6/3 Those moments of presidential informality and free-spokenness which tend to upset men accustomed by long training to give double weight to every official word.
2006 J. Osgood Caesar's Legacy 87 The Furnius mentioned in Horace's satire..was..remembered for eloquence rather than freespokenness.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adj.1606