honor
Americannoun
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honors
plural
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honesty, fairness, or integrity in one's beliefs and actions.
a man of honor.
- Synonyms:
- uprightness, probity
- Antonyms:
- dishonesty, dishonor
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a source of credit or distinction.
to be an honor to one's family.
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high respect, as for worth, merit, or rank.
to be held in honor.
- Synonyms:
- veneration, reverence, homage, deference
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such respect manifested.
a memorial in honor of the dead.
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high public esteem; fame; glory.
He has earned his position of honor.
- Synonyms:
- distinction
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the privilege of being associated with or receiving a favor from a respected person, group, organization, etc..
I had the honor of serving on the Pulitzer Prize jury.
It is an honor to introduce this evening's speaker.
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Usually honors. evidence, as a special ceremony, decoration, scroll, or title, of high rank, dignity, or distinction.
political honors;
military honors.
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Honor, a deferential title of respect, especially for judges and mayors (preceded by His, Her, Your, etc.).
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honors,
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special rank or distinction conferred by a university, college, or school upon a student for eminence in scholarship or success in some particular subject.
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an advanced course of study for superior students.
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especially historically, chastity or purity in a woman.
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Also called honor card. Cards.
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Bridge. any of the five highest trump cards, as an ace, king, queen, jack, or ten in the trump suit, or any of the four aces in a no-trump contract.
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Whist. any of the four highest trump cards, as an ace, king, queen, or jack in the trump suit.
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Golf. the privilege of teeing off before the other player or side, given after the first hole to the player or side that won the previous hole.
verb (used with object)
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honors,
present (3rd person singular)
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honored,
past participle, past
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honoring
present participle
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to hold in honor or high respect; revere.
to honor one's parents.
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to treat with honor.
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to confer honor or distinction upon.
The university honored her with its leadership award.
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to worship, glorify, or serve (a deity).
Believers honor Hanuman as the embodiment of strength and courage.
May he grow to be a man who loves and honors God.
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to show a courteous regard for.
to honor an invitation.
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Commerce. to accept or pay (a draft, check, etc.).
All credit cards are honored here.
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to accept as valid and conform to the request or demands of (an official document).
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(in square dancing) to meet or salute with a bow.
adjective
idioms
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do honor to,
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to show respect to.
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to be a credit to.
Such good students would do honor to any teacher.
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do the honors, to serve or preside as host, as in introducing people, or carving or serving at table.
Father did the honors at the family Thanksgiving dinner.
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be on / upon one's honor, to accept and acknowledge personal responsibility for one's actions.
West Point cadets are on their honor not to cheat on an exam.
noun
Synonym Usage
Honor, honesty, integrity, sincerity refer to the highest moral principles and the absence of deceit or fraud. Honor denotes a fine sense of, and a strict conformity to, what is considered morally right or due: a high sense of honor; on one's honor. Honesty denotes the presence of probity and particularly the absence of deceit or fraud, especially in business dealings: uncompromising honesty and trustworthiness. Integrity indicates a soundness of moral principle that no power or influence can impair: a man of unquestioned integrity and dependability. Sincerity implies absence of dissimulation or deceit, and a strong adherence to truth: His sincerity was evident in every word. Honor, consideration, distinction refer to the regard in which one is held by others. Honor suggests a combination of liking and respect: His colleagues held him in great honor. Consideration suggests honor because of proved worth: a man worthy of the highest consideration. Distinction suggests particular honor because of qualities or accomplishments: She achieved distinction as a violinist at an early age.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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honorernoun
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overhonorverb (used with object)
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rehonorverb (used with object)
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honorlessadjective
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self-honoredadjective
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unhonoredadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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honorsimple
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honorssimple
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have honoredperfect
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has honoredperfect
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am honoringprogressive
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are honoringprogressive
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is honoringprogressive
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have been honoringperfect progressive
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has been honoringperfect progressive
Past
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honoredsimple
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had honoredperfect
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was honoringprogressive
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were honoringprogressive
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had been honoringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of honor
First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English noun (h)onour, (h)onor, from Old French (h)onor, onur, from Latin honōr- (stem of honor, earlier honōs); verb ultimately derivative of the noun
Explanation
Honor has many uses, all of them good. If you are called a man of honor, you are respected. If someone honors you, they recognize and award you for your achievements. The term honor has always been a word used to describe men and women of high moral worth or great achievement. It can be used as either a noun or verb, and in many different settings. People graduate from college with honor, meaning they have outstanding grades. A woman of honor is pure and decent. Soldiers are buried with full military honors, which means they are given gun salutes and trumpet calls and the nation's fullest respect.
Vocabulary lists containing honor
Veterans Day Vocabulary
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A Graduation Lexicon
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"Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" by Rudyard Kipling
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
We give context to his life and honor the man.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
“We’re trying to honor them and their character choices as much as possible.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
"They have endured targeting, imprisonment, exile, and surveillance for simply reporting the news. It is an honor to recognize their commitment to documenting the truth."
From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026
Paleontologists formally identified the "terror croc" as a distinct species in 2020 and named it Deinosuchus schwimmeri in Schwimmer's honor.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 5, 2026
Night after night, Albany’s influential citizens threw parties in honor of the fabulous Fox sisters.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
Its species name honors Dr. Harald Schillhammer of the Natural History Museum Vienna for his extensive and outstanding contributions to rove beetle research.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 4, 2026
Commissioner Olivia Trusty’s most recent financial disclosure said Paramount gave her two tickets to the December 2025 honors gala that together were worth more than $12,000.
From Salon ● Aug. 4, 2026
It honors the sport, the way Pogacar rides.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
In Auckland, the Hāngī Master, Rewi Spraggon, honors his ancestors with his traditional hāngī catered cooking.
From Salon ● Jul. 26, 2026
They buried Dusya in the village of Pashkovskaya, now part of Krasnodar, giving her full military honors and covering her grave with flowers.
From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein
In 2018, the California League of Cities honored Adelkoff for her work.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
Graham, who will be honored at a funeral at Washington’s National Cathedral on Tuesday, served as a conduit between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Trump.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
The association honored Secret Service agent Victor Gonzalez, who was shot in his protective vest while confronting the gunman, along with Washington Hilton employees who helped guests during the attack.
From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2026
It was a second consecutive visit for the Dodgers, who defeated the New York Yankees in the 2024 World Series and were honored by Trump the following April.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
“If I didn’t know better,” Mother said, “I would think this was the Herdmans being honored instead of the school.”
From "The Best School Year Ever" by Barbara Robinson
Actor and Tibetan activist Richard Gere headlined an hourslong Times Square rally on Saturday honoring Lobga where many wore T-shirts depicting him as a martyr surrounded by flames.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
Laura is the recipient of the Gerald Loeb award for deadline reporting and the New York Women in Communications, Inc. Matrix Award in the newspaper category, honoring her achievements in journalism.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
The name gallium comes from Gaul, the ancient Latin name for France, honoring the nationality of its discoverer.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 9, 2026
In another, Pittman declared a mistrial because one attorney in the case wore a civil rights-themed t-shirt, honoring the death of civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, claiming that the t-shirt contaminated the entire jury pool.
From Salon ● Jul. 3, 2026
The work was also a way of honoring the food.
From "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
