forthright

Etymology

It is inherited from Old English forþriht (“straight forward, direct, plain”),^[2][3][4] with the adverb forþrihte (“straightway, at once; plainly”),^[3] formed from Old English forþ + riht.^[5][6] Merriam-Webster Unabridged treats the adverb and the adjective as Middle English formations from forth and right.^[7] Compare downright.^[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Directly forward, as an adverb, and proceeding in a straight course, as an adjective, both in Old English glossaries.^[5] Dictionary.com dates the word to before 1000.^[8] Ælfric's Grammar uses the adjective of prose, "Prosa is forðriht léden búton leóðcræfte gelógod", and forþriht spræc meant plain speech, or prose.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The literal "straight ahead" passed early into time: "straightway, at once" is recorded from about 1175, in the Ormulum,^[5] and Spenser still used it so.^[6] The noun, a straight course or path, is largely owed to Shakespeare: Troilus and Cressida (1609),^[5][9] with a date of 1606 in Merriam-Webster Unabridged,^[7] and "forthrights and meanders" in The Tempest, which Johnson (1755) quotes under a word he defines as "strait forward; without flexions".^[10][6] The modern figurative adjective, going straight to the point and outspoken, is recorded only from 1855, in Browning's Andrea del Sarto,^[5][6] although the Old English adjective could already mean "plain".^[3][2] The derivatives followed the new sense: forthrightness in the late 19th century and forthrightly in the mid 20th.^[6] The physical adjective is now archaic.^[6]

Timeline

• Old English – adverb, directly forward.^[5][9]
• Old English – adjective, proceeding in a straight course; plain, direct.^[5][2]
• c. 1175 – adverb, straightway, immediately.^[5][9]
• 1609 – noun, a straight course or path.^[5][9] Merriam-Webster Unabridged dates it to 1606.^[7]
• 1640 – adverb, straight out, horizontally (obsolete).^[5][9]
• 1855 – adjective, going straight to the point, outspoken.^[5][9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Going straight to the point; frank and outspoken: She gave the committee a forthright answer.^{[11][7][5][8]}
2. Notably simple in style or quality.^[7]
3. (archaic) Proceeding in a straight course.^[6][8]

Adverb

1. Without hesitation; frankly: The doctor told them forthright what she had found.^[7][11]
2. Directly forward; straight ahead.^[7][5]
3. (archaic) At once; immediately.^[7][5][11]

Noun

1. A straight path or direct course.^[7][5][8]

Word family

• forthrightly
• forthrightness
• unforthright

Related words

• forth
• right
• downright

Usage notes

The adjective and noun are stressed on the first syllable; the adverb may be stressed on the second.^[11][8]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b c d e Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
9. ^ a b c d e f Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins