frank
FRANKadjMeaning direct and honest, even when it is uncomfortable
Memory hook FRANK: straight as a PLANK. Nana Lou tastes the soup and gives it to you straight as a plank: “Needs salt. Lots of salt.” No sugarcoating: she is frank.
Dad was frank with us: the car needed repairs, and the trip would have to wait.
In context Most guests politely praised the soup, but Grandma was frank: she said it needed salt, pepper and about an hour more on the stove.
Similar blunt, direct, candid, outspoken
Opposite evasive, guarded, indirect
From Old French franc, “free”: a frank speaker feels free to say what she thinks.