Antonyms for call a spade spade
Grammar : Adj, verb |
Spell : speyd |
Phonetic Transcription : speɪd |
Definition of call a spade spade
Origin :- "tool for digging," Old English spadu, from Proto-Germanic *spadon (cf. Old Frisian spada, Middle Dutch spade, Old Saxon spado, Middle Low German spade, German Spaten), from PIE *spe- "long, flat piece of wood" (cf. Greek spathe "wooden blade, paddle," Old English spon "chip of wood, splinter," Old Norse spann "shingle, chip").
- To call a spade a spade "use blunt language, call things by right names" (1540s) translates a Greek proverb (known to Lucian), ten skaphen skaphen legein "to call a bowl a bowl," but Erasmus mistook Greek skaphe "trough, bowl" for a derivative of the stem of skaptein "to dig," and the mistake has stuck.
- As in plainspoken : adj frank
- As in straight-from-the-shoulder : adj frank
- As in straight-out : adj frank
- As in straight-shooting : adj frank
- As in forthright : adj straightforward, honest
- As in frank : adj completely honest
- As in define : verb give description
Synonyms for call a spade spade
- aboveboard
- apparent
- artless
- ascertain
- assign
- bald
- bare-faced
- blunt
- bold
- brazen
- call a spade a spade
- candid
- categorical
- characterize
- construe
- decide
- delineate
- denominate
- denote
- describe
- designate
- detail
- determine
- direct
- directly
- downright
- dub
- easy
- elucidate
- entitle
- etch
- exemplify
- explain
- expound
- familiar
- flat-out
- formalize
- forthright
- forward
- frank
- free
- from the hip
- guileless
- heart-to-heart
- honest
- illustrate
- ingenuous
- interpret
- label
- lay it on the line
- lay it out
- like it is
- man-to-man
- matter-of-fact
- nail it down
- naive
- name
- natural
- no lie
- open
- outright
- outspoken
- plain
- plain-spoken
- plainspoken
- prescribe
- real
- represent
- saying what one thinks
- scrupulous
- simple
- sincere
- specify
- spell out
- straight
- straight-out
- straightforward
- tag
- translate
- transparent
- truthful
- unconcealed
- undisguised
- uninhibited
- unreserved
- unrestricted
- up front
- upright
Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019