Antonyms for call spade a spade


Grammar : Adj, verb
Spell : speyd
Phonetic Transcription : speɪd


Definition of call spade a 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 spade a spade

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019