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dishonest
[ dis-on-ist ]
adjective
- not honest; disposed to lie, cheat, or steal; not worthy of trust or belief:
a dishonest person.
Synonyms: perfidious, deceitful, knavish, unscrupulous
Antonyms: honest
- proceeding from or exhibiting lack of honesty; fraudulent:
a dishonest advertisement.
Synonyms: false
Antonyms: honest
dishonest
/ dɪsˈɒnɪst /
adjective
- not honest or fair; deceiving or fraudulent
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Derived Forms
- disˈhonestly, adverb
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Other Words From
- dis·honest·ly adverb
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Word History and Origins
Origin of dishonest1
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Synonym Study
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Example Sentences
He portrays the administration as ignornant, incompetent, dishonest and more concerned with public relations spin than saving lives.
The retraction in June of two papers on covid-19 in the Lancet and the New England Journal of Medicine, after researchers put too much trust in a dishonest collaborator, is an example of what happens when epistemic dependence is mishandled.
I’ve also heard about another group of people who were out in full force—dishonest people trying to trick or steal money that everyday people work so hard to earn.
The letter informing her of her July 2019 decertification said she had been dishonest about the incident involving the vehicle, she said.
Additionally, we reserve the right to ban polls sponsored by a particular organization that consistently engages in dishonest or nontransparent behavior that goes beyond editorializing and political spin.
How can the police do that if the community views them as dishonest, or even dangerous?
Bureaucracies are inefficient and dishonest—maybe not intentionally . . . but because there are too many moving parts.
Trying to put the onus onto someone else for your own decisions is really cowardly and kind of dishonest.
The Bar determined his failure to inform his client was both dishonest and deceitful.
She never lied to him or was dishonest to him, and we were very careful to point that out in the movie, but Tom needed to grow up.
All the miserable stratagems they had been guilty of to win him; the dishonest plotting and planning.
The door should not be left open, as dishonest persons, passing along the entry, could enter without fear of being questioned.
The Ministers found that, on this occasion, neither their honest nor their dishonest supporters could be trusted.
Thus, to import insanity or incompetency to a professional man, or that a public official is dishonest and corrupt is actionable.
An honest man, with all his modesty, cannot prevent people saying of him what a dishonest man says of himself.
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Related Words
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More About Dishonest
What does dishonest mean?
Dishonest is the opposite of honest—it’s used to describe someone or something as intentionally deceptive or not fully truthful in some way.
When dishonest is used to describe a person, it usually means they are frequently or habitually untruthful—that they tend to lie often or that they often hide or leave out part of the truth.
When dishonest is used to describe a thing, it usually implies that the thing is intentionally deceptive—that it’s intended to deceive people or mislead them through lies, the omission of all or parts of the truth, or the twisting of the truth.
Just as the noun form of honest is honesty, the noun form of dishonest is dishonesty.
Example: The article exposes the company’s dishonest business practices and the dishonest executives who promote them.
Where does dishonest come from?
The first records of the word dishonest come from the 1300s. The prefix dis- means “not,” making dishonest mean “not honest.”
Being honest is actually pretty simple—it involves telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Being dishonest involves all different kinds of ways of being deceptive, including telling lies, hiding or leaving out parts of the truth, or using a mix of truth and lies to mislead or deceive. Just because you’re not lying doesn’t mean you’re not being dishonest.
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What are some other forms related to dishonest?
- dishonesty (noun)
- dishonestly (adverb)
What are some synonyms for dishonest?
What are some words that share a root or word element with dishonest?
What are some words that often get used in discussing dishonest?
How is dishonest used in real life?
Dishonest is always used negatively. It can be used to describe people or the things they say, do, or create.
being accused of being dishonest when you’re telling nothing but the truth has to be up there with one of the most frustrating things
— sorento (@kiasfuneral) September 2, 2020
We shouldn’t shy away from these difficult conversations about competing rights and interests, about speech and safety and power. But we also shouldn’t let a loud and dishonest group of people warp and manipulate the debate to serve their ends.
— Jill Filipovic (@JillFilipovic) February 16, 2021
Uber ordered to pay $20m in fines following (probably last ever) FTC investigation into dishonest advertising https://t.co/iAQebS6Q8d
— Sarah Lacy (@sarahcuda) January 24, 2017
Try using dishonest!
Which of the following words is NOT a synonym of dishonest?
A. untruthful
B. deceitful
C. deceptive
D. incorrect
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