open and aboveboard

Idioms  

1. Also, honest and aboveboard. Candid and fair, without deceit or trickery, as in I'll join you, but only if everything remains open and aboveboard. Both versions of this expression are redundancies, since they use open and aboveboard in the sense of “honest.” The latter word, dating from the early 1600s, comes from gambling and alludes to the fact that card players who do not keep their hands on the table (board) may be suspected of changing their cards under the table.

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Example Sentences

"China never interferes in other countries' internal affairs and always acts in an open and aboveboard manner," the Chinese embassy in London has previously said.

From BBC • Oct. 29, 2025

Said the President: "I intend to conduct an open and aboveboard campaign"�a pledge that would have seemed superfluous in any but a post-Nixon period.

From Time Magazine Archive

We believe that the time has come for athletic scholarships to be placed on a businesslike basis, open and aboveboard.

From Time Magazine Archive

This court," he told stale lawyers, "upheld that statute on the representation of the state of Florida that this was an open and aboveboard proceeding.

From Time Magazine Archive

The animals were more friendly, perhaps my actions were more open and aboveboard.

From A Mountain Boyhood by Comstock, Enos B. (Enos Benjamin)