Dictionary

warts and all en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Etymology

In 1653, an artist, Samuel Cooper, was asked to paint Oliver Cromwell’s portrait. Cromwell preferred the portrait to be shown with “pimples, warts and everything” (i.e., to include any defects and imperfections). Over time, this phrase has come to be shortened to “warts and all”.

Meanings

1. (idiomatic, informal, not-comparable, qualifier:often hyphenated) Of or pertaining to a description or other depiction which reveals the full range of characteristics of a person or thing, including the shortcomings and imperfections.
   • Biographer Jones, for all his hero worship, belongs to the warts-and-all school, and notes some strange quirks in Freud's character. 1957 October 14, “The Last Days of Freud”, in Time:
   • More than a quarter of a century after the fraught events that followed the privatisation of the railway, Corbett has provided a warts and all analysis of what led to the spate of rail disasters in the aftermath of the break-up of British Rail, and (ultimately) to the demise of the company. 2026 March 4, Christian Wolmar, “Railtrack: what really happened”, in RAIL, number 1056, page 50:

Forms

Translations (5)

nl in de staat waarin het zich bevindt (of a description which does not conceal shortcomings or imperfections) · fi kaunistelematon (of a description which does not conceal shortcomings or imperfections) · nl wratten en al inbegrepen (of a description which does not conceal shortcomings or imperfections) · es con todas sus imperfeccionescon verrugas y todo (of a description which does not conceal shortcomings or imperfections) · pl ze wszystkimi przywarami (of a description which does not conceal shortcomings or imperfections)

warts and all en · ADV

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Etymology

In 1653, an artist, Samuel Cooper, was asked to paint Oliver Cromwell’s portrait. Cromwell preferred the portrait to be shown with “pimples, warts and everything” (i.e., to include any defects and imperfections). Over time, this phrase has come to be shortened to “warts and all”.

Meanings

1. (idiomatic, informal, not-comparable) In a manner which does not conceal shortcomings or imperfections.
   • "We are very open and publish everything we investigate in detailed reports - warts and all," adds French. 2021 December 29, Paul Stephen, “Rail's accident investigators”, in RAIL, number 947, page 33:
   • The new crop of reality shows brings us that much closer to the contestants, warts and all. 2003 January 14, Donna Freydkin, “Young and voyeuristic”, in USA Today:

Forms

Relateds

gory details · leave nothing to the imagination · tell-all · bare one's soul · bare all

Translations (5)

pl bezdyskusyjnie (in a manner which does not conceal shortcomings or imperfections) · ru как есть (in a manner which does not conceal shortcomings or imperfections) · ru со всеми недостатками (in a manner which does not conceal shortcomings or imperfections) · ru без прикрас (in a manner which does not conceal shortcomings or imperfections) · fi kaunistelematta (in a manner which does not conceal shortcomings or imperfections)