Word.ws English Dictionary

not to put too fine a point on it

UK/nɒt tʊ ˌpʊt tuː ˌfaɪn ə ˈpɔɪnt ɒn ɪt/US/nɑt tə ˌpʊt tu ˌfaɪn ə ˈpɔɪnt ɑn ət/

not to put too fine a point on it phrase: used to apologize for a possibly impolite statement one is making; to put it bluntly; to express it in plain terms.

Phrase

not to put too fine a point on it

  1. (idiomatic) Used to apologize for a possibly impolite statement one is making; to put it bluntly; to express it in plain terms.
    • My little woman is at present in—not to put too fine a point on it—in a pious state, or in what she considers such, and attends the Evening Exertions (which is the name they go by) of a reverend party of the name of Chadband.1852 March – 1853 September, Charles Dickens, “Mr. Bucket”, in Bleak House, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1853, →OCLC, page 217
    • En route, to his taciturn, and, not to put too fine a point on it, not yet perfectly sober companion, Mr Bloom, who at all events, was in complete possession of his faculties, never more so, in fact disgustingly sober, spoke a word of caution re the dangers of nighttown, women of ill fame and swell...1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[Episode 16: Eumaeus]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC, part III [Nostos], page 570

not to put too fine a point on it meaning in Bengali

not to put too fine a point on it in Bengali

স্পষ্ট ভাষায় প্রকাশ করা

Origin of not to put too fine a point on it

A reference to the fact that the speaker is about to say something blunt rather than fine (that is, delicate or subtle).

Questions about not to put too fine a point on it

What does not to put too fine a point on it mean?
Not to put too fine a point on it means used to apologize for a possibly impolite statement one is making; to put it bluntly; to express it in plain terms.
What is not to put too fine a point on it in Bengali?
Not to put too fine a point on it in Bengali is স্পষ্ট ভাষায় প্রকাশ করা. See Not to put too fine a point on it meaning in Bengali.
What part of speech is not to put too fine a point on it?
Not to put too fine a point on it is a phrase.
How do you pronounce not to put too fine a point on it?
Not to put too fine a point on it is pronounced /nɒt tʊ ˌpʊt tuː ˌfaɪn ə ˈpɔɪnt ɒn ɪt/ (UK).

Words near not to put too fine a point on it in the dictionary

  1. not the sharpest tool in the shed
  2. not to be outdone
  3. not to brag
  4. not to mention
  5. not to put a tooth in it
  6. not to put too fine a point on it
  7. not to put too fine a word on it
  8. not to say
  9. not to speak of
  10. not to worry
  11. not touch with a barge pole

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: not to put too fine a point on it (page history and authors); not to put too fine a point on it (Bengali Wiktionary) (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-not to put too fine a point on it.ogg.

Cite this entry: “not to put too fine a point on it.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/not_to_put_too_fine_a_point_on_it. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.