kernel of truth
kernel of truth noun: a core accuracy at the heart of a claim or narrative which also contains dubious or fictitious elements.
Noun
kernel of truth (plural kernels of truth)
- A core accuracy at the heart of a claim or narrative which also contains dubious or fictitious elements.
- There may be a kernel of truth in the story of how George Washington confessed to his father that he chopped down the cherry tree.
- Whether the Duke of Wellington really said of the Eton playing-fields that it was there that the battle Waterloo was won, may fairly be doubted. The story has many elements of the myth about it; but, like other myths, it has a kernel of truth.1863 October 24, “Latin and Cricket”, in The Albion, A Journal of News, Politics and Literature, volume 41, number 48, New York, page 513
- Synonyms:
- grain of truth
Synonyms of kernel of truth
Forms of kernel of truth
| plural | kernels of truth |
|---|
Questions about kernel of truth
- What does kernel of truth mean?
- Kernel of truth means a core accuracy at the heart of a claim or narrative which also contains dubious or fictitious elements.
- What part of speech is kernel of truth?
- Kernel of truth is a noun.
- What is the plural of kernel of truth?
- The plural of kernel of truth is kernels of truth.
Words near kernel of truth in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: kernel of truth (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-kernel of truth.ogg.
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