speak truth to power en · VERB
Meanings
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To address facts to an authority or a superior, especially in the face of risk to oneself.
“Once, we needed to have a pope who would speak in favour of human rights in Russia and China,” said Massimo Faggioli […]. “You now need someone who can speak truth to American power.”
2025 May 10, Massimo Faggioli, quotee, “Chicagoan pope not afraid of speaking truth to power in US”, in FT Weekend, London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 3:He was tired of corporate politics and craved a setting where people spoke truth to power, but, he said, it took him a while to get used to dealing with Dalio.
2011 July 18, John Cassidy, “Mastering the Machine”, in The New Yorker, →ISSN:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| speaking truth to power | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| spoken truth to power | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| speaks truth to power | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic | |
| spoke truth to power | Tense=Past | lexicographic |
Relateds
plain as the nose on one's face · truthseeker · elephant in the room · emperor's new clothes · truth will out · tell it like it is · yes man