ADJ

absolute, gospel (informal) , honest (informal) , real
She takes everything she reads in the paper as gospel truth
full, whole
It still doesn't make sense to me?I don't think he's told us the whole truth
exact, literal
naked, plain, simple
The simple truth is he's lost his job
underlying
awful, bitter, cruel, dreadful, hard, harsh, horrible, horrid, painful, sad, shocking, terrible, unpalatable, unpleasant, unwelcome
the shocking truth about heroin addiction among the young The sad truth is he never loved her
objective
empirical, historical, moral, poetic, psychological, religious, scientific, spiritual
It's a good film but contains little historical truth
divine

QUANT

element, grain
There may have been a grain of truth in what he said

VERB + TRUTH

know
So now you know the truth. If the truth be known, I was afraid to tell anyone
admit, speak, tell (sb)
He was reminded of his duty to speak the truth when questioned in court. I'm sure she's telling the truth. To tell you the truth, I'm rather dreading his return
establish, discover, find out, get at, learn, reveal, uncover
She was determined to discover the truth about her neighbours. The journalist protested that he was only trying to get at the truth
guess
accept, acknowledge, face (up to)
doubt
The police doubt the truth of his statement
conceal, cover up, hide, suppress
You've been hiding the truth from me!

TRUTH + VERB

be, lie
We are examining the matter to see where the truth lies
come out, emerge
Towards the end of the letter the cruel truth emerged
dawn on sb
The awful truth suddenly dawned on her

PREP

in ~
She laughed and chatted but was, in truth (= in fact) , not having much fun
~ about
finding out the truth about her husband
~ behind
What's the truth behind all the gossip?
~ in
There is no truth in the rumour

PHRASES

be economical with the truth (= not to tell the whole truth), nothing could be further from the truth
I know you think she's mean, but nothing could be further from the truth
the quest/search for (the) truth, a ring of truth
His explanation has a ring of truth to it
a seeker after truth
(literary) seekers after divine truth
the truth of the matter
The truth of the matter is we can't afford to keep all the staff on
the truth will out
(saying) (= People will find out the true facts of a situation even if you try to keep them secret.)

ADJ

basic, central, common, essential, eternal, fundamental, general, great, important, profound, simple, ultimate, universal
in search of the eternal truths of life
ancient
obvious, self-evident, undeniable
We hold these truths to be self-evident …
underlying
half, partial
His evidence was a blend of smears, half truths and downright lies
harsh, home, painful, unpalatable, unpleasant, unwelcome
It's time we told him a few home truths about sharing a house
necessary
moral, philosophical, scientific, spiritual
divine

VERB + TRUTH

establish, reveal, uncover
tell sb
accept, acknowledge, face up to

PREP

~ about
She was forced to face up to a few unwelcome truths about her family