honest

[ on-ist ]
See synonyms for: honesthonestness on Thesaurus.com

adjective
  1. truthful; ethical; fair; not lying or cheating: She's an honest person.

  2. showing uprightness and fairness; not deceitful: Honest dealings remain central to the corporation's core values.

  1. gained or obtained fairly: honest wealth.

  2. sincere; frank; candid: He has an honest face.Give me your honest opinion.

  3. genuine or unadulterated: honest commodities.

  4. respectable; having a good reputation: an honest name.

  5. reliable in accuracy or truth; true; just: honest weights.

  6. humble, plain, or unadorned.

  7. Archaic. chaste; virtuous.

Origin of honest

1
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English honeste, from Middle French, from Latin honestus “honorable,” equivalent to hones- (variant stem of honōs ) honor + -tus adjective suffix

Other words for honest

Opposites for honest

Other words from honest

  • hon·est·ness, noun
  • o·ver·hon·est, adjective
  • o·ver·hon·est·ly, adverb
  • o·ver·hon·est·ness, noun
  • qua·si-hon·est, adjective
  • qua·si-hon·est·ly, adverb

Words Nearby honest

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use honest in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for honest

honest

/ (ˈɒnɪst) /


adjective
  1. not given to lying, cheating, stealing, etc; trustworthy

  2. not false or misleading; genuine

  1. just or fair: honest wages

  2. characterized by sincerity and candour: an honest appraisal

  3. without pretensions or artificial traits: honest farmers

  4. archaic (of a woman) respectable

  5. honest broker a mediator in disputes, esp international ones

  6. honest Injun (interjection) school slang genuinely, really

  7. honest to God or honest to goodness

    • (adjective) completely authentic

    • (interjection) an expression of affirmation or surprise

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

Origin of honest

1
C13: from Old French honeste, from Latin honestus distinguished, from honōs honour

Derived forms of honest

  • honestness, noun

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

Other 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

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.