honest

English

Etymology

From Old French honeste, from Latin honestus, from honor. For the verb, see Latin honestare to clothe or adorn with honour, and compare French honester.

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɒnɪst/
(US) IPA^(key): /ˈɑnɪst/
Audio (US) (file)

Adjective

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

(of a person or institution) Scrupulous with regard to telling the truth; not given to swindling, lying, or fraud; upright.
We're the most honest people you will ever come across.
- (Can we date this quote?) Sir W. Temple
  An honest physician leaves his patient when he can contribute no farther to his health.
(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
In good faith; without malice.
an honest mistake
(of a measurement device) Accurate.
an honest scale
Authentic; full.
an honest day's work
Earned or acquired in a fair manner.
an honest dollar
Open; frank.
an honest countenance
(obsolete) Decent; honourable; suitable; becoming.
- (Can we date this quote?) Shakespeare
  Behold what honest clothes you send forth to bleaching!
(Can we find and add a quotation of Chaucer to this entry?)
(obsolete) Chaste; faithful; virtuous.
- (Can we date this quote?) Shakespeare
  Wives may be merry, and yet honest too.

Synonyms

See also Thesaurus:honest

Antonyms

dishonest

Derived terms

Translations

scrupulous with regard to telling the truth

Arabic: نَزِيه‎‎ m (nazīh)
Armenian: ազնիվ (hy) (azniv)
Basque: zintzo (eu)
Bulgarian: честен (bg) (česten)
Cebuano: matinod-anon
Chinese:
Cantonese: 誠實 (sing⁴ sat⁶)

Mandarin: 誠實 (zh), 诚实 (zh) (chéngshí), 正直 (zh) (zhèngzhí), 老實 (zh), 老实 (zh) (lǎoshi)

Min Dong: 平直 (bang dik> bang lik)
Czech: poctivý m
Danish: ærlig (da)
Dutch: eerlijk (nl)
Esperanto: honesta
Estonian: aus (et)
Faroese: ærligur
Finnish: rehellinen (fi)
French: honnête (fr)
Galician: honesto m
German: ehrlich (de), aufrichtig (de)
Greek: τίμιος (el) m (tímios), έντιμος (el) m (éntimos)
Hungarian: őszinte (hu)
Icelandic: heiðarlegur (is) m, ráðvandur m, sómakær m, réttsýnn m
Irish: macánta
Italian: onesto (it) m, onesta (it) f

Japanese: 正直 (ja) (しょうじき, shōjiki), 誠実 (ja) (せいじつ, seijitsu)
Javanese: jujur (jv)
Lao: ມີຄວາມຊື່ສັດ (mīk wām sư̄ sat)
Macedonian: искрен (iskren)
Maori: tapatahi
Norman: honnête
Norwegian:
Bokmål: ærlig (no)

Nynorsk: ærleg
Polish: uczciwy (pl) m
Portuguese: honesto (pt) m, honesta (pt) f, sincero (pt) m, sincera (pt) f
Romanian: cinstit (ro), onest (ro)
Russian: че́стный (ru) (čéstnyj)
Scottish Gaelic: ionraic, ceart
Slovak: poctivý
Spanish: honesto (es), sincero (es)
Swedish: ärlig (sv)
Tagalog: matapat
Tamil: நேர்மையான (nērmaiyāṉa)
Thai: ซื่อสัตย์ (th) (sʉ̂ʉ-sàt)
Ukrainian: че́сний (čésnyj)
Vietnamese: thành thật (vi)
Volapük: snatik (vo)

of a statement: true, fair, unbiased

Bulgarian: правдив (bg) (pravdiv)

Finnish: rehellinen (fi)

in good faith, without malice

Bulgarian: искрен (bg) (iskren)

Finnish: rehellinen (fi)

of a measurement device: accurate

Finnish: rehellinen (fi)

authentic, full

Bulgarian: истински (bg) (istinski)

Finnish: rehellinen (fi)

earned or acquired in a fair manner

Bulgarian: почтен (bg) (počten)
Finnish: rehellinen (fi)

Icelandic: heiðarlega fenginn m

Verb

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

(obsolete) To adorn or grace; to honour; to make becoming, appropriate, or honourable.
(Can we find and add a quotation of Archbishop Sandys to this entry?)
- (Can we date this quote?) Ben Jonson
  You have very much honested my lodging with your presence.

Adverb

honest (comparative more honest, superlative most honest)

(colloquial) Honestly; really.
It wasn’t my fault, honest.

Anagrams

Heston, Stheno, oneths

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.