candor means the state of being sincere and open in speech; honesty in expression. It carries an Arena rating of 1489, earned across 2 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, candor ranks #2,350 of 14,448 for Most Incisive Words, #2,382 of 14,414 for Most Elegant Words, #2,737 of 14,445 for Most Beautiful Words, #4,066 of 14,297 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words.
candor is pronounced /ˈkæn.də(ɹ)/.
Why “candor” is a great word
The quality of being open, honest, and straightforward in expression; frankness. From Latin candor (“brightness, whiteness, openness”), from candēre (“to shine, to be white”), ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root *kand- (“to shine”), first attested in English c. 1600. Unlike “tact,” which veils truth in consideration for others’ feelings, or “duplicity,” which conceals truth behind deliberate falsehood, candor is the unvarnished emission of thought, conducted in full, unflinching light. It is the stark white of a sun-bleached wall, the clear tone of a struck bell, the unadorned fact laid bare upon a table—a luminous and often devastating clarity that reveals the shape of things as they are, not as we might wish them to be, where honesty becomes a kind of undressing.
Etymology
From Latin candor (“brightness, whiteness”), from candeō (“to shine”).
noun
- The state of being sincere and open in speech; honesty in expression.
- Impartiality.
- Whiteness; brilliance; purity.“Whilst thou didst keep thy Candor undefil'd,
Deerly I lov'd thee; as my first-born child[…]”
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- candid 92% match — Impartial and free from prejudice. vs candor →
- sincerity 89% match — The quality or state of being sincere. vs candor →
- unfeignedness 84% match — The quality of being unfeigned; sincerity. vs candor →
- probity 84% match — Integrity, especially of the quality of having strong moral principles; decency and honesty. vs candor →
- mendacity 83% match — The fact or condition of being untruthful; dishonesty. vs candor →
- openness 83% match — Accommodating attitude or opinion, as in receptivity to new ideas, behaviors, cultures, peoples, environments, experiences, etc., different from the familiar, conventional, traditional, or one's own. vs candor →
- soothfastness 83% match — truth; honesty; veracity vs candor →
- pellucidity 83% match — Transparency; lucidity; clarity. vs candor →