honesty

[on-uh-stee]

See more synonyms for honesty on Thesaurus.com

noun, plural hon·es·ties.

the quality or fact of being honest; uprightness and fairness.
truthfulness, sincerity, or frankness.
freedom from deceit or fraud.

Botany. a plant, Lunaria annua, of the mustard family, having clusters of purple flowers and semitransparent, satiny pods.
Obsolete. chastity.

Origin of honesty

1300–50; Middle English honeste < Middle French < Latin honestās. See honest, -ty²

Related formso·ver·hon·es·ty, noun

Synonyms for honesty

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1. integrity, probity, rectitude. See honor. 2. candor, veracity.

Antonyms for honesty

1. dishonesty.

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

Related Words for honesty

confidence, candor, veracity, virtue, probity, frankness, loyalty, honor, self-respect, responsibility, sincerity, fairness, faithfulness, integrity, rectitude, morality, trustworthiness, soundness, openness, right

Examples from the Web for honesty

Contemporary Examples of honesty

I think a lot of it has to do with the attitude and the energy behind it and the honesty.
‘Black Dynamite’ Presents Police Brutality: The Musical
Stereo Williams
January 9, 2015
There was so much beauty, talent, potential, and most importantly, honesty in your work.
Dear Leelah, We Will Fight On For You: A Letter to a Dead Trans Teen
Parker Molloy
January 1, 2015
Her followers love her honesty and the popularity of the blog grows.
Meet Zoella—The Newbie Author Whose Book Sales Topped J.K. Rowling
Lucy Scholes
December 11, 2014
In all honesty she may be handling it better, in terms of not letting it affect her as a person or screw up her life.
Jeopardy! Champion Julia Collins’s Brain Feels Like Mush
Sujay Kumar
November 20, 2014
And equal to Bunning in decency, honesty, fullness of thought, and forwardly straight talk was Rick Robinson.
Up to a Point: In Defense of Lobbyists
P. J. O’Rourke
October 25, 2014

Historical Examples of honesty

But honesty don't get you bread or bacon, not in this world!
Way of the Lawless
Max Brand
The very fact that they come to us for help is an avowal of their honesty.
Grace Harlowe's Return to Overton Campus
Jessie Graham Flower
The confidence of the public in his honesty was as great a reward as the stakes.
Thoroughbreds
W. A. Fraser
He must take the oath; and you, with your life, will be responsible for his honesty?
Night and Morning, Complete
Edward Bulwer-Lytton
The unvarnished fashions of New England honesty grated on his ear.
Hetty's Strange History
Anonymous

British Dictionary definitions for honesty

honesty

noun plural -ties

the condition of being honest
sincerity or fairness
archaic virtue or respect
Also called: moonwort, satinpod a purple-flowered SE European plant, Lunaria annua, cultivated for its flattened silvery pods, which are used for indoor decoration: family Brassicaceae (crucifers)

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

Word Origin and History for honesty

early 14c., "splendor, honor; elegance," later "honorable position; propriety of behavior, good manners; virginity, chastity" (late 14c.), from Old French honesté (Modern French honnêteté), from Latin honestatem (nominative honestas) "honor received from others; reputation, character;" figuratively "uprightness, probity, integrity, virtue," from honestus (see honest). Meaning "moral purity, uprightness, virtue, justness" is from c.1400; in English, the word originally had more to do with honor than honest.