speak truth to power

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speak truth to power (third-person singular simple present speaks truth to power, present participle speaking truth to power, simple past spoke truth to power, past participle spoken truth to power)

1. To address facts to an authority or a superior, especially in the face of risk to oneself.
   • 2011 July 18, John Cassidy, “Mastering the Machine”, in The New Yorker‎^[1], →ISSN:

     He was tired of corporate politics and craved a setting where people spoke truth to power, but, he said, it took him a while to get used to dealing with Dalio.

   • 2025 May 10, Massimo Faggioli, quotee, “Chicagoan pope not afraid of speaking truth to power in US”, in FT Weekend, page 3:

     “Once, we needed to have a pope who would speak in favour of human rights in Russia and China,” said Massimo Faggioli […] . “You now need someone who can speak truth to American power.”

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:speak truth to power.

• “speak truth to power”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.