King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Chinese symbol for “honestly”

说真的
shuō zhēn de
Traditional: 說真的
to tell the truth; honestly; in fact

The closest CC-CEDICT match for honestly is 说真的 (shuō zhēn de), defined as: to tell the truth; honestly; in fact.

Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.

Characters and stroke order

说 shuō
to speak, to say; to scold, to upbraid
radical 149 ⾔ · 9 strokes
真 zhēn
real, actual, true, genuine
radical 109 ⽬ · 10 strokes
的 de
aim, goal; of; possessive particle; -self suffix
radical 106 ⽩ · 8 strokes

Traditional forms

Related words

Other words that share a character with 说真的.

WordPinyinMeaning
说明 (說明)shuō míngto explain; to illustrate
小说 (小說)xiǎo shuōnovel; fiction
说话 (說話)shuō huàto speak; to say
听说 (聽說)tīng shuōto hear (sth said); one hears (that)
说法 (說法)shuō fǎto expound Buddhist teachings
真的zhēn dereally; truly; indeed; real; true; genuine
真正zhēn zhènggenuine; real; true; really; indeed
真是zhēn shiindeed; truly; (coll.) (used to express disapproval, annoyance etc)
的话 (的話)de huàif (coming after a conditional clause)

See also: Japanese symbol for “honestly”.

Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3); Make Me a Hanzi (Arphic Public License (graphics.txt); LGPL-3.0-or-later (dictionary.txt)); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.

Last posts

  1. Buying Chanbara Swords for Sparring and Competition
  2. What Size Shinai Does a Child Need for Kendo Practice
  3. Best Polypropylene Bokken for Hard Contact Training
  4. Best Foam Swords for Kids Martial Arts and Safe Practice
  5. Are Cold Steel Training Swords Good for Practice
  6. Shinai Maintenance and Essential Tools for Bamboo Care
  7. Best Shinai for Kendo Beginners Choosing Your First Sword
  8. Choosing the Best Bokken for Kendo Kata
  9. Using a Tsuba on Your Bokken for Partner Practice
  10. How Much Should You Spend on a Wooden Practice Sword