honest

[ on-ist ]

adjective

1. truthful; ethical; fair; not lying or cheating:

   She's an honest person.

   Synonyms: just, honorable, fair, scrupulous, principled, moral, incorruptible, good, ethical, conscientious, veracious, truthful, trustworthy

   Antonyms: unconscionable, immoral, dishonest, corrupt, untruthful, mendacious, lying, dishonorable, unscrupulous, unprincipled, unethical

2. showing uprightness and fairness; not deceitful:

   Honest dealings remain central to the corporation's core values.

   Synonyms: upright

3. gained or obtained fairly:

   honest wealth.

4. sincere; frank; candid:

   He has an honest face.

   Give me your honest opinion.

   Synonyms: unaffected, sincere, simple, natural, ingenuous, guileless, genuine, artless, up-front, unreserved, unguarded, straightforward, straight, plain-spoken, plain, outspoken, out-front, open-hearted, open, free-hearted, free-spoken, frank, foursquare, forthright, forthcoming, direct, candid, aboveboard

   Antonyms: phony, insincere, guileful, disingenuous, artificial, artful, affected

5. genuine or unadulterated:

   honest commodities.

   Synonyms: unadulterated, pure, true, sure-enough, real, genuine, echt, bona fide, authentic, actual

   Antonyms: sham, pseudo, phony, mock, fake, bogus

6. respectable; having a good reputation:

   an honest name.

   Synonyms: reputable, estimable

   Antonyms: disreputable

7. reliable in accuracy or truth; true; just:

   honest weights.

   Synonyms: reliable, precise, faithful, exact, accurate, trusty

   Antonyms: unreliable

8. humble, plain, or unadorned.
9. Archaic. chaste; virtuous.

honest

/ ˈɒnɪst /

adjective

1. not given to lying, cheating, stealing, etc; trustworthy
2. not false or misleading; genuine
3. just or fair

   honest wages

4. characterized by sincerity and candour

   an honest appraisal

5. without pretensions or artificial traits

   honest farmers

6. archaic.
   (of a woman) respectable
7. honest broker
   a mediator in disputes, esp international ones
8. honest Injun slang:school.
   interjection genuinely, really
9. honest to God or honest to goodness
   1. adjective completely authentic
   2. interjection an expression of affirmation or surprise
10. make an honest woman of
    to marry (a woman, esp one who is pregnant) to prevent scandal

Derived Forms

• ˈhonestness, noun

Other Words From

• 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

Word History and Origins

Origin of honest¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of honest¹

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

Idioms and Phrases

• come by (honestly)
• open (honest) and aboveboard

Example Sentences

One that the public health community owns is, let's be very honest and clear: Most public health scientists and medical scientists tend to be left of center.

From Salon

"It's surreal to be honest. I never felt we would get into this situation," Slegers said on Thursday night.

From BBC

“To be honest, we really don’t know how it works, the mechanism is unknown at the moment,” says Prof Espallargas.

From BBC

So I just was trying to be as honest and truthful as I could in every situation and some situations required laughter, some situations required deep internal thought and hurt.

From Los Angeles Times

"I'm ready to get back to work because I've had enough time sat on the sofa to be honest," Georgi said.

From BBC

Related Words

• authentic
• conscientious
• decent
• equitable
• fair
• forthright
• genuine
• honorable
• impartial
• proper
• reliable
• sincere
• straightforward
• true
• trustworthy
• virtuous