matter-of-fact

/mæɾərəvˈfækt/

/mætəəvˈfækt/

Someone who's matter-of-fact is straightforward and unemotional. Your matter-of-fact friend won't get upset when her dog runs away — she'll call him calmly until he returns.

Matter-of-fact things aren't fancy or stylish; they just tell it like it is. A matter-of-fact letter to the editor is practical and factual, and a kid's matter-of-fact apology for breaking his neighbor's window will take responsibility and offer a sincere "I'm sorry." A matter-of-fact news report doesn't sensationalize facts, but simply states them. Originally, matter-of-fact was a legal term meaning "portion of an enquiry concerned with truth or falsehood."

Definitions of matter-of-fact

1. adjective

   concerned with practical matters
   “a matter-of-fact (or pragmatic) approach to the problem”

   “a matter-of-fact account of the trip”

   synonyms: pragmatic, pragmatical

   practical

   concerned with actual use or practice
2. adjective

   not fanciful or imaginative
   “local guides describe the history of various places in matter-of-fact tones”

   synonyms: prosaic

   unrhetorical

   not rhetorical