honey

American  

[huhn-ee] / ˈhʌn i /

noun

• honeys
  plural

1. a sweet, viscid fluid produced by bees from the nectar collected from flowers, and stored in nests or hives as food.

2. this substance as used in cooking or as a spread or sweetener.

3. the nectar of flowers.

4. any of various similarly sweet, viscid products produced by insects or in other ways.

5. something sweet, delicious, or delightful.

   the honey of flattery.

6. Informal. a person for whom one feels love or deep affection; sweetheart; darling.

7. (sometimes initial capital letter) an affectionate or familiar term of address, as to a child or romantic partner (sometimes offensive when used to strangers, casual acquaintances, subordinates, etc., especially by a male to a female).

8. Informal. something of especially high quality, degree of excellence, etc..

   That's a honey of a computer.

---

adjective

1. of, like, or pertaining to honey; sweet.

2. containing honey or flavored or sweetened with honey.

verb (used with object)

honeyed, honied, honeying

1. Informal. to talk flatteringly or endearingly to (often followed byup ).

2. to sweeten or flavor with or as if with honey.

verb (used without object)

honeyed, honied, honeying

1. Informal. to use flattery, endearing terms, etc., in an effort to obtain something (often followed byup ).

   They always got what they wanted by honeying up to their grandfather.

honey British  

/ ˈhʌnɪ /

noun

1. a sweet viscid substance made by bees from nectar and stored in their nests or hives as food. It is spread on bread or used as a sweetening agent

2. any similar sweet substance, esp the nectar of flowers

3. anything that is sweet or delightful

4. (often capital) a term of endearment

5. informal something considered to be very good of its kind

   a honey of a car

6. (modifier) of, concerned with, or resembling honey

---

verb

1. (tr) to sweeten with or as if with honey

2. (often foll by up) to talk to (someone) in a fond or flattering way

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• honey-like
  adjective
• honeyful
  adjective
• honeyless
  adjective
• honeylike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• honeys
  plural

---

Etymology

Origin of honey

before 900; Middle English hony, Old English hunig; cognate with Dutch, German honig, Old Norse hunang; akin to Greek knēkós pale yellow, tawny

---

Explanation

Honey is the sweet, sticky substance that bees make from flower nectar. Most people like to put a little honey in their tea, but Winnie the Pooh likes to hoard it in a big pot. Honey comes in various consistencies — from almost solid, in honeycomb, to drippy and liquid. Bees produce honey and store it for food, and humans often take advantage of this, harvesting the honey for themselves. Honey is also a color, the golden shade of most honey, and a verb, meaning "to add honey," or "to make sweet." Since the 14th century, people have also called each other honey as an affectionate nickname.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

honey honeys honeyed honeying honied

The number of registered beekeepers increased from 19,000 in 2010 to 47,000 last year, reflecting growing numbers of managed honey bee colonies.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 22, 2026

Locations with greater concentrations of honey bees generally had fewer other pollinators and experienced more competition for flowers.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 22, 2026

Unlike most other insects, ivy bees sometimes defended their feeding spots by chasing or displacing honey bees, successfully competing for access to flowers.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 22, 2026

On bramble flowers, doubling the density of honey bees was associated with a 14% decrease in bumblebee abundance.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 22, 2026

Rupa crowed, joy spreading like honey across her face.

From "Tiger Boy" by Mitali Perkins

Jams, jellies and honeys make perfect pairings for much of what’s on offer.

From Washington Times ● Jul. 18, 2023

I wish there more details about the honeys offered and how to use honey, such as Nicole's note about its viscosity and how it can change so much once cooked.

From Salon ● Apr. 7, 2023

Vendors are hawking flower crowns, drinking horns, herbal tea blends and artisanal wildflower honeys while the pop-up taverns declaring “COLD DRYNKS” attend to parched wayfarers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 23, 2022

The raw honeys, including a slightly citric sourwood and a very floral tulip poplar, are $12 to $16 for 12 to 16 ounces.

From New York Times ● Jul. 26, 2021

Now, honeys, I'se 'feered long nuff wid business.

From The Earth Trembled by Edward Payson Roe

In an era of great tenors McCormack alone had the superlative breath control, the honeyed sweetness and the ability to float notes at the top of the register with dulcet ease.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

She explained that she and her siblings would deliberately choose long bedtime stories to spend more time listening to their father read aloud, describing his voice as "honeyed".

From BBC ● May 29, 2026

Think clusters of honeyed oats, a handful of nuts, a whisper of cinnamon or maple, a pinch of sea salt.

From Salon ● Oct. 23, 2025

“All of my dreams came true, the bigger the ocean, the deeper the blue / Call me a model, an actress, whatever,” she sings with her honeyed lilt.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2024

Her voice is warm and honeyed, but her hooded gaze is purely clinical.

From "I Can Make This Promise" by Christine Day

Russian Journey is his most interesting book to date and offers a penetrating glimpse of the enigmatic bear which is currently bent on retracting its claws and honeying up the world.

From Time Magazine Archive

But honeying at the whisper of a lord: And one the Master, as a rogue in grain, Veneer'd with sanctimonious theory.'

From Aspects of Modern Oxford by A. D. (Alfred Denis) Godley

Ay, but the young colt winced and whinnied and flung up her heels; and then the King came honeying about her, and this Becket, her father's friend, like enough staved us from her.

From Becket and other plays by Alfred Tennyson, Baron Tennyson

So she set briskly about her task, honeying Eugene the while, for she was confident that this above all things was the thing he needed.

From The "Genius" by Theodore Dreiser

I’d always felt that way, too, till he come honeying round me this spring.

From Captain Pott's Minister by Francis L. (Francis Le Roy) Cooper

Within hours Columbia Artists' Vice-President William Judd was on the transatlantic phone with honied words.

From Time Magazine Archive

And I, listening, Found not the salt of the whispers of my girl, Murmur of confused colors, as we lay near sleep; Little wise words and little witty words, Wanton as water, honied with eagerness.

From "Cannery Row" by John Steinbeck

And as she looked and listened to his sweet and honied sentences, she felt that all around would darken down to naked waste without his society.

From William Shakespeare as he lived. An Historical Tale by Henry Curling

The under butler all blandness and honied words.

From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 60, No. 369, July 1846 by Various

Sleek from good living, his hood fell without a wrinkle over his portly person; and bowing in devotion before his superiors, the words of flattery flowed in profusion from his honied tongue.

From The Highlands of Ethiopia by William Cornwallis Harris

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---