frank

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"I have always found him very courteous and pleasant--frank, amiable, and all the rest of it And yet here is this man Calabressa, an old friend of his; and he talks of Lind with a sort of mysterious awe.

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Definitions (41)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (11)

  1. adjective Open and sincere in expression; straightforward: made several frank remarks about the quality of their work.
  2. adjective Clearly manifest; evident: frank enjoyment.
  3. transitive verb To put an official mark on (a piece of mail) so that it can be sent free of charge.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (17)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (7)

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Examples (50)

  • By far the best part of my day was spent in play--frank, hearty, boisterous play, such as comes natural to American children. —  The Promised Land
  • He smiled to himself as he recalled her smile--frank, beaming, her face radiant with undisguised pleasure Kate was sitting on a rock on the backbone of a ridge when he drew in sight of her--a dark picturesque silhouette against the sky. —  The Fighting Shepherdess
  • The man that brought them in was very frank, and very much of a gentleman; and he lay his hand upon his bosom-pin, and swear he sell those things because he has no more use for them,--his family all sick of tyvoid fever, and cannot live the week out. —  Five Hundred Dollars First published in the "Century Magazine"
  • I am very frank, and tell you that I should be rejoiced to have you for my son-in-law I'm sure I'm very much obliged to you But neither by me nor by her father will any constraint ever be put on the inclinations of our child. —  Orley Farm
  • Ernest was to her still the frank, ardent, simple-hearted boy whom she had loved so long and so truly. —  Evenings at Donaldson Manor Or, The Christmas Guest
 

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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Suggestions Wordniks Suggest

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

sincere ·  candid ·  affectionate ·  cordial ·  genial ·  courteous ·  boyish ·  fearless ·  passionate ·  eager

Used in the same contextWord Family

frank:   franked ·  franker ·  frankest ·  franking ·  franks ·  Frank
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (7)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English, free, from Old French franc, from Late Latin Francus, Frank; see Frank.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (6)

  1. from Middle English frank = D. G. Danish Swedish frank, free, from Old French franc, frank, free, at liberty, exempt from subsidies, etc., liberal, valiant, etc., honest, etc., = French franc = Provencal franc = Spanish Portuguese Italian franco, from Middle Latin francus, free, at liberty, exempt from service, etc.; as a noun, a free man, a nobleman; prob., and according to the usual statement, a generalization of the tribal name Frank, Old High German Franko, Middle Latin Francus, a Frank, plural Franci, the Franks, the ‘free’ people, in distinction from the tribes in subjection to them: see Frank. Cf. slave, a serf, ult. from Slave, Slav, a Slavonian. Thus frank has nothing to do, etymologically, with free or with freck.
  2. = Old French frankir, franquir (variant of franchir: see franchise, v.), free, = Italian francare, free, exempt (and cf. franchise, v.); from the adjective: see frank, a.
  3. from frank, v.
  4. from Middle English frank, an inclosure for fattening swine, poultry, etc., from OF, franc, a sty for swine, from franc, free, privileged, reserved: see frank.
  5. from Middle English franken; from frank, n.
  6. Said to be imitative.
 

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/fræŋk/
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