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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

honest.

Scrupulous with regard to telling the truth; not given to swindling, lying, or fraud; upright.

6 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

adj/ˈɒn.ɪst/Received-Pronunciation/ˈɔː.nɪst/Received-Pronunciation, dated/ˈɑ.nɪst/Atlantic-Canada, General-American/ˈɑ.nəst/Atlantic-Canada, General-American
  1. Scrupulous with regard to telling the truth; not given to swindling, lying, or fraud; upright.

    brutally honest
    We’re the most honest people you will ever come across.
  2. True, especially as far as is known by the person making the statement; fair; unbiased.

    an honest account of events
    honest reporting
  3. In good faith; without malice.

    an honest mistake
  4. Accurate.

    an honest scale
  5. Authentic; full.

    an honest day's work
  6. Earned or acquired in a fair manner.

    an honest dollar
  7. Open; frank.

    an honest countenance
  8. Decent; honourable; suitable; becoming.

    obsolete
  9. Chaste; faithful; virtuous.

    obsolete
Where this word comes from

From Middle English honest, honeste (“honourable, appropriate, excellent”), from Old French honeste, from Latin honestus, from honor. For the verb, see Latin honestāre (“to clothe or adorn with honour”), and compare French honester. Displaced native Old English sōþfæst (literally “truth-firm”).

verb/ˈɒn.ɪst/Received-Pronunciation/ˈɔː.nɪst/Received-Pronunciation, dated/ˈɑ.nɪst/Atlantic-Canada, General-American/ˈɑ.nəst/Atlantic-Canada, General-American
  1. To adorn or grace; to honour; to make becoming, appropriate, or honourable.

    obsolete
Where this word comes from

From Middle English honest, honeste (“honourable, appropriate, excellent”), from Old French honeste, from Latin honestus, from honor. For the verb, see Latin honestāre (“to clothe or adorn with honour”), and compare French honester. Displaced native Old English sōþfæst (literally “truth-firm”).

adv/ˈɒn.ɪst/Received-Pronunciation/ˈɔː.nɪst/Received-Pronunciation, dated/ˈɑ.nɪst/Atlantic-Canada, General-American/ˈɑ.nəst/Atlantic-Canada, General-American
  1. Honestly; really.

    colloquial
    It wasn’t my fault, honest.
Where this word comes from

From Middle English honest, honeste (“honourable, appropriate, excellent”), from Old French honeste, from Latin honestus, from honor. For the verb, see Latin honestāre (“to clothe or adorn with honour”), and compare French honester. Displaced native Old English sōþfæst (literally “truth-firm”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.