TBH
- 1Initialism of to be honest.
TBH, the second album was a letdown after the first one.
He prefaced his review with a TBH and then tore the restaurant apart.
Note
Frankly or honestly, compressed into three letters for the screen. It usually opens a clause, set off by a comma, and signals that a candid opinion is coming, often softening a criticism or an admission. In 1991 Bill Biesty still spelled it out after first use, "TBH (To be honest), I skip a lot of it too," a sign that the letters were not yet self-explanatory.
- 2Initialism of to be hired.
Three engineering slots on the org chart are still listed as TBH.
Our budget includes two TBH positions we hope to staff by spring.
Note
A label from staffing plans and organizational charts, where it stands in place of a name for a position that has been budgeted but not yet filled. It works like an adjective before nouns such as position, role or slot (two TBH positions), or alone as a placeholder in a box on the chart. In a business document it is easy to tell apart from the everyday "to be honest" meaning.
Practice
Can you tell the meanings of TBH apart? Answer 4 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.