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Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. adj. Marked by or displaying integrity; upright: an honest lawyer.
  2. adj. Not deceptive or fraudulent; genuine: honest weight.
  3. adj. Equitable; fair: honest wages for an honest day's work.
  4. adj. Characterized by truth; not false: honest reporting.
  5. adj. Sincere; frank: an honest critique.
  6. adj. Of good repute; respectable.
  7. adj. Without affectation; plain: honest folk.
  8. adj. Virtuous; chaste.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. Having a sense of honor; having honorable feelings, motives, or principles; free from deceit or hypocrisy; true, candid, upright, or just in speech and action; fair in dealing, or sincere in utterance; worthy to be trusted.
  2. Specifically— Having the virtue of chastity; chaste; virtuous: said of a woman.
  3. Having no disposition to cheat, steal, or lie.
  4. Characterized by or proceeding from honorable motives or principles; marked by truth, justice, sincerity, fairness, etc.: as, an honest transaction; honest opinions or motives; an honest effort.
  5. Of honorable quality; creditable; reputable; proper; becoming: as, a man of honest report.
  6. Excellent in quality; good.
  7. Of honorable appearance; fair-seeming; having the semblance of truthfulness, fairness, etc.
  8. Open; undisguised; boldly or frankly showing purpose, character, or quality, whether good or bad: as, the honest pursuit of pleasure or gain; an honest rogue.
  9. Synonyms and Conscientious, trust-worthy, trusty, frank.
  10. To do honor to; grace; adorn.

Wiktionary

  1. adj. Scrupulous with regard to telling the truth; not given to swindling, lying, or fraud; upright.
  2. adj. True, especially as far as is known by the person making the statement; fair; unbiased.
  3. adj. In good faith; without malice.
  4. adj. Accurate.
  5. adj. Authentic; full.
  6. adj. Earned or acquired in a fair manner.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. adj. Decent; honorable; suitable; becoming.
  2. adj. Characterized by integrity or fairness and straightforwardness in conduct, thought, speech, etc.; upright; just; equitable; trustworthy; truthful; sincere; free from fraud, guile, or duplicity; not false; -- said of persons and acts, and of things to which a moral quality is imputed
  3. adj. Open; frank.
  4. adj. Chaste; faithful; virtuous.
  5. v. To adorn; to grace; to honor; to make becoming, appropriate, or honorable.

WordNet 3.0

  1. adj. without dissimulation; frank.
  2. adj. not forged
  3. adj. gained or earned without cheating or stealing
  4. adj. not disposed to cheat or defraud; not deceptive or fraudulent
  5. adj. worthy of being depended on
  6. adj. without pretensions
  7. adj. marked by truth

Etymologies

  1. Middle English, from Old French honeste, from Latin honestus, honorable, from honor, honor (earlier honōs).

Examples

  • “’ My conscience says, ‘No; take heed, honest Launcelot; take heed, honest Gobbo; ’ or, as aforesaid, ‘honest Launcelot Gobbo; do not run; scorn running with thy heels.”

    Act II. Scene II. The Merchant of Venice

  • “When you're dealin 'with an honest event -- _honest_, mind you -- as goes on year after year between two parties both ekally set on winnin', the only way to get real satisfaction is to pick your fancy an 'go on backin' it.”

    Hocken and Hunken

  • “There are several men that I _believe_ to be honest," returned the owner of the bungalow, "yet only one that I know to be _honest_, and who possesses at the same time the judgment to undertake a mission like the one I have been telling you about.”

    The Motor Boat Club and The Wireless Or, the Dot, Dash and Dare Cruise

  • “Not only would they all stay here, but they would become honest -- these hardened rogues, who a few weeks before were wont to use the words _honest_ and _stupid_ as synonyms.”

    Freeland A Social Anticipation

  • “_very_ honest, or _exceedingly_ just, for the words _honest_ and _just_, literally admit of no comparison.”

    English Grammar in Familiar Lectures

  • “You'd rather see me drudging all the best moments of my life away, so you can lounge around Ju Penrose's saloon spending dollars you've no right to, than risk your peace of mind on an honest -- yes, _honest_ -- transaction that's going to give me a little of the comfort that you haven't the grit to help me to yourself. ”

    The Forfeit

  • “Secondly, any lasting peace is going to have to be a peace that's good for both sides, and, therefore, the term honest broker makes sense.”

    CNN Transcript - Special Event: Bush and Gore Face off in a Kinder, Gentler Debate - October 11, 2000

  • “The term honest wealth, which was creeping into respectable periodicals, was exceedingly annoying to him.”

    A Certain Rich Man

  • “Although not given to blushing, Dick felt that he coloured under his dye at the praise; for although they had certainly sold cheaply, he doubted whether the term honest could be fairly applied to the whole transaction.”

    The Tiger of Mysore A Story of the War with Tippoo Saib

  • “A Fox News appearance that Michael Steele made on January 4th where he has used the term honest Injun to back up his remarks on conservative principles and a lot of Native Americans didn't like him using those words.”

    NPR Topics: News

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‘honest’ has been looked up 2950 times, loved by 1 person, added to 32 lists, commented on 2 times, and has a Scrabble score of 9.