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:
Year: 2013 Compiled by: Slate Staff Of note: Published in honor of Gandolfini after the Sopranos star’s untimely death.
From Slate ● Oct. 7, 2026
First held in 1949, the Emmys honor achievements in acting, writing, and production, serving as a primary showcase for the global television industry.
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026
To Hamilton and his contemporaries, public credit meant not government bonds, like the trillions’ worth afloat today, but the reputation and honor of the government that issues them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
The ultimate honor is typically reserved for sporting heroes from the host country, often with Olympic excellence on their resume.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2026
Me and my buddies, the Grand Island Boys, have the honor of kicking off tonight’s battle.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
At Central High, I excelled in basketball and baseball, earning all-city honors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
The energy of her cousin Ever finds its way into most of her work and the car project honors him too; he also had the same type of vehicle.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
On Monday, a 20-year-old Haitian immigrant named Pierre Damas Bel, who graduated from high school with honors in May, walked into traffic on I-70 in Springfield highway and was killed.
From Salon ● Sep. 3, 2026
The medal is one of the highest honors associated with human spaceflight in the United States.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 24, 2026
There’s just enough room for all the parents who have students in honors classes.
From "A Step from Heaven" by An Na
The trio were honored "for their discovery of a molecular switch for nerve cells," the Nobel Assembly said.
From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026
“I had to take a minute to take that in, and I thought, ‘I’d be honored.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 5, 2026
Maintaining clear communication, transparency and documenting the arrangement helps prevent misunderstandings and jealousy among siblings and ensures that the parents’ wishes are honored.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026
At the 39th ceremony, Los Tigres del Norte presented a bit of that story to the people of Minnesota — who were collectively honored with the Humanitarian Award.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2026
“I can’t accept this,” he says, part of him deeply honored and the other part wishing people would stop giving him things.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
They reunite in February for concerts honoring the centenary of Mstislav Rostropovich, one of Mr. Noseda’s predecessors as music director of the NSO.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
Then there was last Thursday’s lavish White House dinner honoring Xi Jinping.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
However, Matthew is busy trying, and failing, to write a speech for a ceremony honoring his idolized late father, Big Mac.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026
One woman writes: “I like the idea of honoring the staff. If you were to pick up my $100 tab, I’d like it, sure.”
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 11, 2026
I assumed Baeh was honoring the traditional Confucian structure of community, where in each village a prominent elder man heard the townspeople’s grievances and arbitrated and ruled.
From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee
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.
