honest

English Online Dictionary. What means honest‎? What does honest mean?

English

Etymology

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”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɒnɪst/
  • (RP dated) IPA^(key): /ˈɔːnɪst/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈɑnɪst/, /ˈɑnəst/
• Rhymes: -ɒnɪst, -ɔːnɪst, -ɑnɪst

Adjective

honest (comparative more honest or (nonstandard) honester, superlative most honest or (nonstandard) honestest)

1. (of a person or institution) Scrupulous with regard to telling the truth; not given to swindling, lying, or fraud; upright.
2. (of a statement) True, especially as far as is known by the person making the statement; fair; unbiased.

3. In good faith; without malice.

4. (of a measurement device) Accurate.

5. Authentic; full.

6. Earned or acquired in a fair manner.

7. Open; frank.

8. (obsolete) Decent; honourable; suitable; becoming.
9. (obsolete) Chaste; faithful; virtuous.

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:honest

Antonyms

• dishonest

Derived terms

Collocations

Descendants

• → Welsh: gonest

Translations

Verb

honest (third-person singular simple present honests, present participle honesting, simple past and past participle honested)

1. (obsolete) To adorn or grace; to honour; to make becoming, appropriate, or honourable.

Adverb

honest (comparative more honest, superlative most honest)

1. (colloquial) Honestly; really.

Translations

Further reading

• “honest”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “honest”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “honest”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “honest”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “honest”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.
• “honest”, in Collins English Dictionary.
• “honest” (US) / “honest” (UK) in Macmillan English Dictionary.

Anagrams

• Heston, Stheno, ethnos, oneths

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin honestus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [uˈnest]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Valencia) [oˈnest]

Adjective

honest (feminine honesta, masculine plural honests or honestos, feminine plural honestes)

1. upright, decent, honorable

Derived terms

• deshonest
• honestament

Related terms

• honestedat
• honor

Further reading

• “honest” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “honest”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “honest” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “honest” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Middle English

Adjective

honest

1. Alternative form of honeste (“good”)
   • late 14th century, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Words of the Host to the Physician and the Pardoner, The Canterbury Tales, line 327-328: