honest

[on-ist] / ˈɒn ɪst /

ADJECTIVE

truthful, candid

Synonyms

STRONGEST

authentic conscientious decent equitable fair forthright genuine honorable impartial proper reliable sincere straightforward true trustworthy virtuous

WEAK

aboveboard bona fide direct ethical fair and square frank high-minded ingenuous just law-abiding lay it on the line like it is no lie on the level on the up and up open outright plain real reputable scrupulous straight true blue trusty undisguised unfeigned upfront upright veracious what you see is what you get

Antonyms

STRONGEST

biased corrupt counterfeit deceitful deceptive devious dishonest false insincere irresponsible partial prejudiced unfair unjust unreal unreasonable unreliable unsuitable untrustworthy

WEAK

fraudulent lying misleading treacherous untruthful

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.

"That would have made quite a difference to be honest; somebody acknowledging what happened to the children who were placed in their care."

From BBC • Jun. 9, 2026

"The door's shut and you're in someone's house… I was young, I didn't really know what to really do, to be honest."

From BBC • Jun. 8, 2026

“I don’t know what they’re going to do, to be honest with you,” Duffy said.

From Barron's • Jun. 8, 2026

“What do we tell people? How do we navigate this? I reverted to being honest, and yes, that led us to the last 48 hours.”

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 5, 2026

“But before we go, we wanted to get serious for a minute and say that, to be honest, climate change never really mattered to us much before.”

From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz

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