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honor system

American

noun

a system whereby the students at a school, the inmates in a prison, etc., are put on their honor to observe certain rules in order to minimize administrative supervision or to promote honesty.

Etymology

Origin of honor system

An Americanism dating back to 1900–05

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:

honor system

Just the honor system and a makeshift security camera I bolted to the top.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 18, 2025

This seems to mean that agencies are basically on the honor system as far as whether to spend their legally allocated money—but, really, who knows?

From Slate ● Jan. 29, 2025

One, the research oversight system is an honor system.

From Salon ● Jun. 20, 2024

Golf is a sport with an honor system, whether marking a ball, filling out your scorecard accurately or figuring out how many swings you took to get out of a sand trap.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 21, 2024

When Mother was away, we were put on an honor system.

From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023