unvarnished C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities US /ʌnˈvɑrnɪʃt/ UK /ʌnˈvɑːnɪʃt/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 adj plain and direct, without embellishment; not coated with varnish She gave them the unvarnished truth about the deal. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 adj · plain and direct, without... plaincandidfrankbluntstraightforwardunembellishedbare ↔ Opposites embellishedvarnishedornatepolished Word family Related forms varnish Etymology AI details From un- ('not') plus varnished, from varnish, from Old French vernis, from Medieval Latin veronix ('sandarac resin'), possibly from Late Greek beronikē. un- Old English vernis Old French View etymology graph -> Topics Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives External links Google Images Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary # unvarnished **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** adj **IPA (US):** /ʌnˈvɑrnɪʃt/ **IPA (UK):** /ʌnˈvɑːnɪʃt/ ## Meanings 1. plain and direct, without embellishment; not coated with varnish ## Examples - She gave them the unvarnished truth about the deal. ## Synonyms - plain - candid - frank - blunt - straightforward - unembellished - bare ## Antonyms - embellished - varnished - ornate - polished ## Related Forms - varnish ## Roots and Affixes - Root: un- - Root: vernis ## Etymology From un- ('not') plus varnished, from varnish, from Old French vernis, from Medieval Latin veronix ('sandarac resin'), possibly from Late Greek beronikē. ## AI Etymology Unvarnished comes from un- ('not') plus varnished, from varnish, from Old French vernis, from Medieval Latin veronix ('sandarac resin'), possibly from Late Greek beronikē. The historical chain includes Old English un- and Old French vernis. The quoted older senses, "not" and "sandarac resin", supply the semantic anchors for unvarnished. The formation is best read as borrowed: the word unvarnished carries its older form-history into a compact English lexical shape. In present English it is used as a adj, "plain and direct, without embellishment; not coated with varnish". Related English forms include varnish. The result is a adj whose etymology preserves both the older form and the later English specialization. ## Topics - Describing Qualities - Word Formation & Derivatives markdown