honest
Americanadjective
-
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
-
showing uprightness and fairness; not deceitful.
Honest dealings remain central to the corporation's core values.
- Synonyms:
- upright
-
gained or obtained fairly.
honest wealth.
-
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
-
genuine or unadulterated.
honest commodities.
- Synonyms:
- unadulterated, pure, true, sure-enough, real, genuine, echt, bona fide, authentic, actual
-
respectable; having a good reputation.
an honest name.
- Antonyms:
- disreputable
-
reliable in accuracy or truth; true; just.
honest weights.
- Antonyms:
- unreliable
-
humble, plain, or unadorned.
-
Archaic. chaste; virtuous.
adjective
-
not given to lying, cheating, stealing, etc; trustworthy
-
not false or misleading; genuine
-
just or fair
honest wages
-
characterized by sincerity and candour
an honest appraisal
-
without pretensions or artificial traits
honest farmers
-
archaic (of a woman) respectable
-
a mediator in disputes, esp international ones
-
slang:school (interjection) genuinely, really
-
-
(adjective) completely authentic
-
(interjection) an expression of affirmation or surprise
-
-
to marry (a woman, esp one who is pregnant) to prevent scandal
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of honest
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
Explanation
The adjective honest is perfect for describing someone who tells the truth. If you're always honest, it means you're truthful and sincere no matter what. Honest comes from the Latin word honestus, which means "honorable or respected," and around 1300, honest was popularly used to mean "respectable and of neat appearance." We don't use it these days to describe the way someone dresses, but instead how truthful they are, and sometimes to emphasize how simple and straightforward something is, like "good, honest home-cooked food."
Vocabulary lists containing honest
Positive Words to Describe a Person
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The Silent Treatment: Words Plagued by Silent Letters
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"Macbeth" Vocabulary from Act IV
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
I’ll be honest, though: Canned soup, while cost-effective, isn’t the most flavor-forward.
From Salon • Jun. 13, 2026
"To be honest we've been blown away and overwhelmed at the outpour of support from the music industry, from our fans, from the general public," says Nash.
From BBC • Jun. 11, 2026
And, to be honest, I didn’t think they would be that hard to avoid as I got older.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 11, 2026
Bosses often struggle to get honest feedback from direct reports, who are “psychologically programmed to reassure” them.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 11, 2026
If I am being honest, I was thinking of how rarely servants survive the death of their masters.
From "The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams" by Daniel Nayeri
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
