honest

[ on-ist ]

/ ˈɒn ɪst /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR honest ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

honorable in principles, intentions, and actions; upright and fair: an honest person.

showing uprightness and fairness: honest dealings.

gained or obtained fairly: honest wealth.

sincere; frank: an honest face.

genuine or unadulterated: honest commodities.

respectable; having a good reputation: an honest name.

truthful or creditable: honest weights.

humble, plain, or unadorned.

Archaic. chaste; virtuous.

Nearby words

honduran, honduras, hone, honecker, honegger, honest, honest broker, honest injun, honest john, honest to god, honest-to-goodness

Origin of honest

1250–1300; Middle English honeste < Middle French < Latin honestus honorable, equivalent to hones- (variant stem of honōs) honor + -tus adj. suffix

SYNONYMS FOR honest

1 just, incorruptible, trusty, trustworthy.

2 fair.

4 straightforward, candid.

5, 9 pure.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR honest ON THESAURUS.COM

ANTONYMS FOR honest

1 dishonest, corrupt.

SEE MORE ANTONYMS FOR honest ON THESAURUS.COM

Related forms

hon·est·ness, nouno·ver·hon·est, adjectiveo·ver·hon·est·ly, adverbo·ver·hon·est·ness, noun

qua·si-hon·est, adjectivequa·si-hon·est·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for honest

To be honest, I think a lot of good essay writing comes out of that.
Daphne Merkin on Lena Dunham, Book Criticism, and Self-Examination|Mindy Farabee|December 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
So I’m sitting with my daughter and all of her friends—who are 13—and she says ‘Dad, can I be honest with you?
Jamie Foxx: Get Over the Black ‘Annie’|Stereo Williams|December 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
That desperate, honest, human voice, a voice willing to see change, or die, but in any event never to back up again.
The Day I Used Eric Garner’s Voice|Joshua DuBois|December 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He is honest about his religious doubts, but he is committed to learning more about God.
The Good Wife’s Religion Politics: Voters Have No Faith in Alicia's Atheism|Regina Lizik|November 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST

She turned to me as someone to keep her honest after she first dropped her sorority.
Stepford Sororities: The Pressures of USC’s Greek Life|Maya Richard Craven|November 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The man was so open and honest that his arguments had nothing underhand or crafty in them.
The Grey Lady|Henry Seton Merriman
Office-seekers and speech-makers, who do not so much as lay an honest egg, but wear their breasts bare upon an egg of chalk!
A Plea for Captain John Brown|Henry David Thoreau
Now look here, son, I don't usually talk about myself, but—I'm honest.
A Poor Wise Man|Mary Roberts Rinehart
An honest man dies but once, but a traitor dies a thousand deaths.
The Puppet Crown|Harold MacGrath
And pray, brother, what's become of his honest companion, Duretete?
The Inconstant|George Farquhar

British Dictionary definitions for honest

honest

/ (ˈɒnɪst) /

adjective

not given to lying, cheating, stealing, etc; trustworthy

not false or misleading; genuine

just or fairhonest wages

characterized by sincerity and candouran honest appraisal

without pretensions or artificial traitshonest farmers

archaic (of a woman) respectable

honest broker a mediator in disputes, esp international ones

honest Injun (interjection) school slang genuinely, really

honest to God or honest to goodness

(adjective) completely authentic
(interjection) an expression of affirmation or surprise

make an honest woman of to marry (a woman, esp one who is pregnant) to prevent scandal

Derived Forms

honestness, noun

Word Origin for honest

C13: from Old French honeste, from Latin honestus distinguished, from honōs honour

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Idioms and Phrases with honest

honest

In addition to the idioms beginning with honest

honest to God

also see:

come by (honestly)
open (honest) and aboveboard

honest

adjective

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RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of honest

SYNONYMS FOR honest

ANTONYMS FOR honest

Related forms

Examples from the Web for honest

British Dictionary definitions for honest

honest

adjective

Derived Forms

Word Origin for honest

Idioms and Phrases with honest

honest