Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Deserving or winning honor and respect: led an honorable life.
- adj. Bringing distinction or recognition: honorable service to one's nation.
- adj. Possessing and characterized by honor: an honorable person.
- adj. Consistent with honor or good name: followed the only honorable course of action.
- adj. Distinguished; illustrious: this honorable gathering of scholars.
- adj. Attended by marks of recognition and honor: received an honorable burial.
- adj. Used as a title of respect for certain high government officials: The Honorable Jane Doe, Associate Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts.
- adj. Used as a courtesy title for the children of barons and viscounts and the younger sons of earls.
- adj. Used in the House of Commons as a title of respect when speaking of another member.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Worthy of being honored; entitled to deference or respect on account of character or rank; eminent; illustrious.
- Actuated by principles of honor or a scrupulous regard to rectitude or reputation; acting justly or in good faith.
- Conferring or suitable for honor or distinction; creditable; reputable.
- Consistent with or conformable to honor or reputation; honest; sincere; marked by probity or good faith: as, honorable intentions or motives; an honorable character.
- Held in honor; worthy of respect; free from shame or disgrace; respectable: as, honorable poverty.
- Performed or accompanied with marks of honor or with testimonials of esteem: as, an honorable burial.
- Of respectable quality or amount; adequate to requirement; sufficient: as, an honorable salary.
- An epithet put before a person's name as a conventional title of respect or distinction. In Great Britain this title is bestowed upon the younger sons of earls and the children of viscounts and barons, and upon persons occupying official places of trust and honor; also upon the House of Commons as a body, as formerly upon the East India Company. In the United States it is commonly given to persons who hold or have held any considerable office under the national or State government, particularly to members and ex-members of Congress and of State legislatures, to judges, justices, and some other judicial officers, as well as to certain executive officers. Abbreviated Hon.
- Synonyms Honorary, Honorable. See honorary.
- Just, upright, conscientious, high-minded, magnanimous. See comparison under honesty.
- n. An honored or distinguished person.
- n. One who bears the formal or official title of honorable.
Wiktionary
- adj. Worthy of respect; respectable.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Worthy of honor; fit to be esteemed or regarded; estimable; illustrious.
- adj. High-minded; actuated by principles of honor, or a scrupulous regard to probity, rectitude, or reputation.
- adj. Proceeding from an upright and laudable cause, or directed to a just and proper end; not base; irreproachable; fair.
- adj. Conferring honor, or produced by noble deeds.
- adj. Worthy of respect; regarded with esteem; to be commended; consistent with honor or rectitude.
- adj. Performed or accompanied with marks of honor, or with testimonies of esteem.
- adj. Of reputable association or use; respectable.
- adj. An epithet of respect or distinction
WordNet 3.0
- adj. deserving of esteem and respect
- adj. adhering to ethical and moral principles
- adj. not disposed to cheat or defraud; not deceptive or fraudulent
- adj. worthy of being honored; entitled to honor and respect
Etymologies
- From the Old French honorable, honurable, from the Latin honōrābilis, from honōrō ("I honour"); cognate with Italian onorabile, Spanish honorable. (Wiktionary)
Examples
“This satisfied him; and after once more exacting from Finigan a pledge of what he termed honorable confidence, he took his departure.”
The Emigrants Of Ahadarra The Works of William Carleton, Volume Two
“Dave, as a senior editor for a major American hunting and shooting magazine you have the opportunity to set a proper example with your experience and thinking scope cuts are "honorable" is unprofessional (which is what you are supposed to be-like it or not.)”
“I would have been a lot happier if the Na'avi had been a little less unwordly, a little less driven by pure emotion, a little more civilized, but James Cameron was in honorable company with that one, even if (in my opinion) we should have outgrown Jean Jacques Rousseau's philosophy of the Noble Savage by now, let alone by whatever century this movie is set in.”
“Of course, Obama did end up giving the troops to McChrystal, who did not resign in honorable and Krauthammer-vindicating protest but rather stayed on until such time as he was forced to resign after having made no fundamental progress with the troops he'd ordered and after having also undermined the civilian leadership in front ofauthor and journalist Michael Hastings.”
The Huffington Post: Barrett Brown: Krauthammer Makes New Prediction Regarding Failed Old Prediction
“As for "honorable hunting" I completely agree and feel that the decline in "honorable hunting" is associated with the increase in blood-thirsty trophy hunting and all-around thrill-seeking we see in many you-tube hunting and shooting videos.”
“I look forward to a day when honorable is once again an appropriate term for our country's administrative officers.”
Report: FBI did not participate in harsh interrogations techniques
“Mumia helps us know how deeply and devoutly we are wanted; how sharply and lovingly we are seen; how honorable is our much maligned name.”
“What a great way to make sure professional sports remain honorable and respectable. —”
How We Would Fight Steroids If We Really Meant It - Freakonomics Blog - NYTimes.com
“The idea that we once were more "moral" or "honorable" is just a myth.”
“Maybe your idea of being honorable is tossing food at her.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘honorable’.
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Kangaroo Words
Words containing letters in sequence, together or apart, that form a definition or instance of the subsuming word. E.g., conTAmINaTe = the kangaroo word. TAINT = the joey. Theme from a NYT X-word ...
encourage, chariot, precipitation, neurotic, feaster, unsightly, charisma, inheritor, masculine, honorable, contaminate, regulate and 103 more...
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The Pain of Texting
Words that are a pain in the ass to type in on a numerical keypad on a cell phone because they have consecutive letters that share the same button:
2 - ABC
3 - DEF
4 - GHI...defcon, hi, no, attitude, xylophone, on, monday, monkey, mono, dig, back, babble and 212 more...
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Words that start with a silent H
honor, honest, heir, herb, hors d'oeuvre, hour, homage, hola, heiress, hombre, honorific, honorable and 1 more...
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The Medley of Me
A jumble of words, sometimes contradictory, that add up to me. I'll probably be adding to this list for some time, because I'm a very complex individual. ;P
male, long-haired, big-eyed, writer, artist, guitarist, songsmith, talespinner, pilot, wannabe barnstormer, gypsy, cuddlesome and 209 more...
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Personal Vocabulary List
All my favourite words that I come across!
veritable, incongruence, rigamorole, letcherous, revolting, repulsive, reputrid, rapatious, forays, guise, placate, paradigm and 1162 more...
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africasunsets's list
serendipity, fragrance, glamour, smitten, nourish, lavish, luxury, wicked, gem, daring, soothe, fantasy and 192 more...
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Apples to Apples: Green Cards
A complete list of the green cards (adjectives) from the popular word game.
absurd, addictive, adorable, aged, American, ancient, animated, annoying, appetizing, arrogant, awesome, awkward and 237 more...
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Scriptie: The Return of the King
i can't carry it ..., at the end of all..., it's done, reach, eagles, veil, grass, water, cream, strawberries, barley, summer and 200 more...
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Samme's Words
soliloquy, meander, creativity, magic, discovery, happiness, empowerment, abundance, [magnificent], iridescent, artistic, magical and 694 more...
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junestag's Words
postmodernism, cat, fish, rabbit, dell, coffee, elearning, mazda, php, mysql, flash, blogger and 755 more...
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Speaking in Tongues - an REM list
Words heard in various REM songs that I enjoy and that I think are indicative of the band. Not too literally, of course.
pilgrimage, pageant, suspicion, penitence, gentlemen, chronic, stigma, deadlier, transit, fortunate, momentum, misconstrued and 162 more...
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2007bee-r02
2007 Scripps National Spelling Bee Round 2
query, tendency, danceable, parachute, malignant, brutal, humanely, lyrically, deductible, shindig, gravel, embroidered and 274 more...
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dickensian
commodious, unaccommodating, curtseyed, conviction, crockery, trousers, obtrusive, irascible, considerable, circumstance, ought, establishment and 53 more...
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Words For Bush (and/or his administra...
These are words that have been used, might have been used, or could be used in association with the current president and/or his administration. They are only listed as a device to remind the read...
steady, consistent, straight-talking, executive, honest, passionate, devout, leader, popular, decisive, gregarious, sociable and 56 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for honorable.

oroboros hoNOraBLE Apr 22, 2008