honest

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/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• 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.

   brutally honest

   We’re the most honest people you will ever come across.

   • c. 1680, William Temple, Of Popular Discontents:

     A true and honest physician is excused for leaving his patient, when he finds the disease grown desperate

2. (of a statement) 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. (of a measurement device) 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. (obsolete) Decent; honourable; suitable; becoming.
   • c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     Behold what honest clothes you send forth to bleaching!

   • 1624, William Simons, “The Gouernment Returned againe to Sir Thomas Gates, 1611”, in John Smith, The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles: , London: I D and I H for Michael Sparkes, →OCLC, book 4; reprinted in The Generall Historie of Virginia, (Bibliotheca Americana), Cleveland, Oh.: The World Publishing Company, 1966, →OCLC, page 111:

     […] Vpon the verge of the Riuer there are fiue houſes, wherein liue the honeſter ſort of people, as Farmers in England, and they keepe continuall centinell for the townes ſecuritie.

   • 1692, Roger L’Estrange, “[The Fables of Æsop, &c.] Fab[le] CLV. A Shepherd and a Wolves Whelp [Reflexion].”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: , London: R Sare, , →OCLC, page 140:

     [T]here are Wolf-Whelps in Palaces, and Governments, as well as in Cottages, and Forreſts. […] They go out however, as there is Occaſion, and Hunt and Growle for Company; but at the ſame time, they give the Sign out of their Maſters hand, hold Intelligence with the Enemy; and Make uſe of their Power and Credit to Worry Honeſter Men them Themſelves.

9. (obsolete) Chaste; faithful; virtuous.
   • c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     Wives may be merry, and yet honest too.

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.
   • 1609 December (first performance), Beniamin Ionson [i.e., Ben Jonson], “Epicoene, or The Silent Woman. A Comœdie. ”, in The Workes of Beniamin Ionson (First Folio), London: Will Stansby, published 1616, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):

     You have very much honested my lodging with your presence.

Adverb

honest (comparative more honest, superlative most honest)

1. (colloquial) Honestly; really.

   It wasn’t my fault, honest.

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)
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Valencian)

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:

     ‘I graunte, y-wis,’ quod he, ‘but I mot thinke
     Up-on som honest thing, whyl that I drinke.’

     ‘I agree, indeed,’ said he, ‘but I must think
     About some respectable thing while I drink.’