'TBH' stands for 'to be honest' and is used to introduce a candid opinion. 'TBH I didn't like the film' = 'honestly, I didn't like the film'. Same softening function as 'NGL' but slightly older — TBH dates from early internet messaging in the 2000s. If your teen uses it, they are being conversational and direct. Harmless. The Instagram app TBH (acquired by Facebook in 2017) made the abbreviation extra-popular among teens.
TBH
"To be honest." Preface to any sincere opinion, especially one that might be controversial.
Etymology timeline
Born ~2020 · no dated citations yetSeen in the wild
If an [internal link](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:WhatLinksHere/TBH&namespace=0) incorrectly led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.
In this story, tbh producer Amaya Dorman Mackenzie shares her story growing up in a school district that supported LGBTQ+ students.
Definitions
"To be honest." Preface to any sincere opinion, especially one that might be controversial. Softens the blow. "TBH, the new album is mid" lands better than just "the new album is mid" — the acronym signals self-awareness the bare verdict doesn't.
"TBH, the new album is mid."
'TBH' stands for 'to be honest' and is used to introduce a candid opinion. 'TBH I didn't like the film' = 'honestly, I didn't like the film'. Same softening function as 'NGL' but slightly older — TBH dates from early internet messaging in the 2000s. If your teen uses it, they are being conversational and direct. Harmless. The Instagram app TBH (acquired by Facebook in 2017) made the abbreviation extra-popular among teens.
'TBH' is the initialism for 'to be honest', a discourse marker introducing a candid opinion, often mildly critical or unexpectedly direct. Pronounced as letters when spoken. Register: very informal, chat and social media. In formal English use 'honestly', 'frankly' or 'to be candid'. A common learner mistake is to over-use it in writing; in formal contexts it sounds slangy. The Instagram-acquired TBH app (2017) further popularised the abbreviation among teens.
“If an [internal link](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:WhatLinksHere/TBH&namespace=0) incorrectly led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.”
“In this story, tbh producer Amaya Dorman Mackenzie shares her story growing up in a school district that supported LGBTQ+ students.”
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Tugdan Airport, IATA airport code
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"To Be Honest", see List of acronyms and initialisms: T
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tbh (app), an anonymous social media app
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Talento Bilingüe de Houston ("Bilingual Theater of Houston")
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Tharawal language, ISO 639-3 language code
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For specific readers
Why is this section here?
Slang is read by different audiences for very different reasons. The For parents view re-explains the term in plain, non-judgemental language so a caregiver can understand what their child means without needing the surrounding subculture. The For English learners view focuses on register (when it's safe to use), formal alternatives, and common mistakes — what a textbook won't teach you.
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Viral internet speak — memes, ratios, main-character moments, and the algospeak of every platform from Twitter to Reddit to TikTok comment sections.
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Related terms
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Semantically related
- TBQH75%
To be quite honest. A slightly fuller, more emphatic cousin of "tbh", used to introduce a frank or slightly critical opinion. The extra "q" signals that the speaker really means it.
- tbh check73%
A moment of enforced or self-imposed honesty — pausing to assess a situation, relationship, or feeling with genuine transparency instead of the softened version you'd normally share. A tbh check is asking yourself or someone else to cut through the performative niceness and say what's actually true. It might be uncomfortable, it might be overdue, but the tbh check is what separates actual clarity from the comfortable fiction most group chats run on.
- negative tbh72%
A negative TBH is a blunt, unflattering honest opinion delivered in the format of a TBH post or message — the kind where someone follows 'tbh' with something that stings. While TBH posts originated as a way to share genuine compliments, the negative TBH flips the format to deliver criticism under the same social contract of honesty. It's technically fair because honesty was the whole premise, but it hits differently when the truth is that you think someone's outfit is a disaster or their personality is exhausting. Handle with care — or don't, if that's your brand.
- tbh coded71%
Describing someone or something as tbh coded means it radiates a vibe of unflinching, slightly blunt sincerity — the kind of person or content that always tells you what it actually thinks, even when you'd rather it didn't. A tbh coded friend is the one who will calmly say your idea is mid when everyone else is being supportive. A tbh coded Twitter account is the one with zero curation and maximum unfiltered hot takes. The '-coded' suffix transforms TBH from an interjection into a personality type or aesthetic quality.