Forthright means direct and outspoken. Saying the thing plainly, without softening it first.
It is a compliment, and that is what separates it from blunt, which suggests a lack of care, and from tactless, which is a criticism outright. A forthright answer is honest and unhedged, and a forthright manner is one you can trust. It suits people who say awkward things because they need saying. The word is old and slightly formal, built from forth and right, and it carries the sense of going straight ahead.
1adjectiveforthrightDirect and honest in speech, without evasion.
“She was forthright about what the job would involve.”
synonyms: candid, frank
Old English
forþriht — direct, plain
Middle English
forþright
English, today
forthright
From Middle English forþright, forþriʒt, forþriht, from Old English forþriht (“direct, plain”). by surface analysis, en + forth + right.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA