Synonyms for candid
- adjective
Synonyms by meaning
Adjective
1. Frank — straightforward, open and sincere, whether people find either refreshing or distasteful
frank, honest, forthright, outspoken, truthful, ingenuous, plain-spoken, open-hearted, sincere, free-spoken, artless, straight-forward, blunt, unreserved, guileless, simple, direct, free, naive, innocent, point-blank, unsophisticated
2. Unbiased — impartial and free from prejudice
unbiased, impartial, unprejudiced, dispassionate, equitable, just, fair, disinterested, objective, detached, neutral, upright, unbigoted, even-handed, honorable US, honourable UK, non-partisan, dull, unaffected, equal dated, indifferent dated, uninterested dated, unprepossessed rare
3. Heart-to-heart
open, heart-to-heart
Other
Definitions
- adj. 1
Impartial and free from prejudice.
- adj. 2
Straightforward, open and sincere, whether people find either refreshing or distasteful.
a surprisingly candid admission of guilt
- adj. 3
Unposed or rehearsed.
Related words
- Word family
- candidity candidly candidness candela candelabrum candidate candle candlestick
Choose the right word
A candid statement is meant to be true to the real facts and just to all parties; a fair statement is really so.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- frank Americans are frank enough to say what they think.
- honest Say what you will, I think he is an honest person.
- outspoken For a Japanese woman, Miyu is unusually outspoken.
- forthright Tom was incredibly forthright and honest.
- impartial I doubt very seriously that Tom will be impartial.
- unbiased Tom told Mary that he thought John wasn't unbiased.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| candid | steady | |
| frank | falling | |
| honest | rising | |
| outspoken | steady | |
| forthright | falling | |
| impartial | falling |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 4 letters
- just1, free1, open2, fair1, dull1
- 5 letters
- frank1, equal2, blunt1, naive2
- 6 letters
- simple2, direct2, honest2
- 7 letters
- neutral2, sincere2, upright2, artless
- 8 letters
- innocent3, detached2, truthful2, unbiased3
- 9 letters
- objective3, honorable4, outspoken3, impartial3, equitable4, ingenuous4, guileless2, unbigoted
- 10 letters
- honourable4, unaffected4, forthright2, unreserved
- 11 letters
- transparent3, indifferent3, uncontrived
- 12 letters
- uninterested4, unprejudiced
- 13 letters
- disinterested4, dispassionate4
- 14 letters
- unprepossessed
- 15 letters
- unsophisticated6
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (open2 = 2 syllables).