honestly en · ADV
Pronunciation
- (Southern-England) audio
- /ˈɑ.nəst.li/ (General-American, dialectal) of Canada
- /ˈɒn.ɪst.li/ (Canada, dialectal) of the US
- /ˈɒn.ɪst.li/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- (US) audio
- /ˈɑ.nɪst.li/ (General-American, dialectal) of Canada
Etymology
From Middle English honestly, honestlyche, honestliche, equivalent to honest + -ly.
Meanings
-
In an honest manner.
Nevertheless, you must know (if I am to speak honestly to you) that I do not repent me those dallyings in enchanted fields.
1902, J. M. Barrie, The Little White Bird:You honestly quit your tools; quit a most muddy confused coil of sore work, short rations, of sorrows, dispiritments and contradictions, having now honestly done with it all; — and await, not entirely in a distracted manner, what the Supreme Powers, and the Silences and the Eternities may have to say to you.
1843 April, Thomas Carlyle, “chapter XIII, Democracy”, in Past and Present, American edition, Boston, Mass.: Charles C[offin] Little and James Brown, published 1843, →OCLC, book III (The Modern Worker):He answered the questions honestly.
I can't honestly say that I feel any elatement at the prospect.
1896, Elsa d'Esterre Keeling, Old Maids and Young, volume 1, page 220:
-
(qualifier:sentence adverb) Frankly, to be honest.
Under a popular Instagram post rounding up some of the most amusing memes generated from her BAFTAs performance, the actress commented on Monday, “Honestly I love this.”
2023 February 21, Dan Heching, “Ariana DeBose ‘honestly loves’ the BAFTA memes but not the Twitter trolling”, in CNN, archived from the original on 08 Mar 2023:Honestly, I didn't believe a word she said.
-
(informal, qualifier:sentence adverb) Expresses mild surprise or hesitation about one's own conclusion.
Alright, can I play, like, here at least? Maybe ENTIA?, I guess ENTIA. Or INIA?, maybe just INIA honestly, for 29. I think that's better than ENTIA here, the T seems pretty valuable, I really want to try to bingo.
2025 July 4, Mack Meller, 8:53 from the start, in Clabbers Clash #7: IIICanteven:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| most honestly | Degree=Sup | lexicographic | |
| more honestly | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic |
Antonyms
Deriveds
Hypernyms
Relateds
actually · honorably · scrupulously · reliably · righteously · accurately · ethically · responsibly · honest · dependably
Synonyms
verily · not gonna lie · fact is · as a matter of fact · legitimately · certainly · in all honesty · all things considered · definitely · come to think of it · earnestly · forthcomingly · in all honesty · de jure · above a bit · simply · surely · in actuality · actually · in reality · soothly · openly · as a matter of fact · honestly · no cap · truthfully · indeed · for realsies · de facto · to be honest · undoubtedly · literally · in fact · right · simply · in truth · by right · candidly · forsooth · tbh · TBH · candidly · indubitably · very much · properly · honestly · truthfully · truly · for real · sincerely · wis · sincerely · in point of fact · truthfully · truly · in truth · genuinely · frankly · outright · to be frank · legitimately · in point of fact · frankly · straight up · in faith · to tell the truth · singly · really · soothfast
Translations (65)
ru че́стно (in an honest manner) · pl uczciwie (in an honest manner) · mk искрено (in an honest manner) · ko 솔직히 (in an honest manner) · ar بِصَراحة (in an honest manner) · ca honestament ((speech act) frankly) · zdj ha namna ya nyongoha (in an honest manner) · nrf honnêtement (in an honest manner) · got 𐌲𐌰𐍆𐌴𐌷𐌰𐌱𐌰 (in an honest manner) · pt honestamente (in an honest manner) · pt honestamente ((speech act) frankly) · bg и́скрено ((speech act) frankly) · uk щи́ро (in an honest manner) · es para ser honesto ((speech act) frankly) · it onestamente ((speech act) frankly) · hy ազնվորեն (in an honest manner) · es si me apuras ((speech act) frankly) · de ehrlich (in an honest manner) · ru и́скренне ((speech act) frankly) · sk úprimne (in an honest manner) · pl szczerze (in an honest manner) · fr franchement ((speech act) frankly) · sv uppriktig (in an honest manner) · fr honnêtement (in an honest manner) · pt para ser honesto ((speech act) frankly) · sk čestne (in an honest manner) · nb helt ærlig (in an honest manner) · es honestamente (in an honest manner) · it onestamente (in an honest manner) · hu becsületesen (in an honest manner) · sv ärligt talat ((speech act) frankly) · fr pour être honnête ((speech act) frankly) · uk че́сно (in an honest manner) · be чэ́сна (in an honest manner) · nb ærlig talt ((speech act) frankly) · hu őszintén szólva ((speech act) frankly) · eo honeste (in an honest manner) · sh ȉskreno (in an honest manner) · cs čestně (in an honest manner) · hi सच्चाई से (in an honest manner) · fr franchement (in an honest manner) · bg и́скрено (in an honest manner) · vo snatiko (in an honest manner) · cs upřímně (in an honest manner) · es honestamente ((speech act) frankly) · vo stedälo (in an honest manner) · vo stedäliko (in an honest manner) · sh и̏скрено (in an honest manner) · fi rehellisesti (in an honest manner) · es francamente (in an honest manner) · nb helt ærlig ((speech act) frankly) · bg че́стно (in an honest manner) · it per essere onesto ((speech act) frankly) · ja 正直に言うと ((speech act) frankly) · cmn 正直地 (in an honest manner) · cy wir i ti ((speech act) frankly) · sv sanningsenlig (in an honest manner) · ca per ser honest ((speech act) frankly) · vo snato (in an honest manner) · ja 正直に (in an honest manner) · be шчы́ра (in an honest manner) · fr honnêtement ((speech act) frankly) · ru и́скренне (in an honest manner) · hu őszintén (in an honest manner) · ca honestament (in an honest manner)