Dictionary

honesty en · NOUN

Pronunciation

/ˈɔn.ə.sti/ (Australia)
/ɒn.ə.sti/ (New-Zealand)
/ˈɑ.nɪ.sti/ (General-American, dialectal) of Canada
/ˈɔn.ɪ.sti/ (Australia)
/ˈɒn.ə.stɪ/ (Received-Pronunciation)
/ˈɑ.nə.sti/ (General-American, dialectal) of Canada
/ˈɔː.nɪstɪ/ (Received-Pronunciation, dated)
/ˈɒn.ɪ.sti/ (Received-Pronunciation)
/ˈɒn.ə.sti/ (Canada, dialectal) of the US
/ˈɒn.ɪ.sti/ (Canada, dialectal) of the US
(US) audio
/ˈɒn.ə.sti/ (Received-Pronunciation)
[ˈɔ̟n.ə.sti] (New-Zealand)

Etymology

From Middle English honeste (“honour, integrity”), from Old French honesté (compare modern French honnêteté). By surface analysis, honest + -y. Displaced native Old English sōþfæstnes and non-native Middle English prodonomee, from Old French prodomie. The plant is named so after the visibility of the seeds through the translucent pods.

Meanings

(countable, uncountable) The act, quality, or condition of being honest.
- […] Are you honest, boy? / Then be not spendthrift of your honesty, / But keep it to yourself; in Padua / Men think that honesty is ostentatious, so / It is not of the fashion. 1891, Oscar Wilde, The Duchess of Padua:
- There’s no trust, / No faith, no honesty in men; all perjured, / All forsworn, all naught, all dissemblers. c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
- I admire unvarnished honesty, which is scarce. And like everything else that's increasingly scarce, it behooves us to hoard our stash. 2025 February 2, Charles Hugh Smith, Begging Bowl '25: I'm Looking for Two Readers Willing to Help Me Buy a New Thrift-Store Shirt:
- brutal / devastating / searing honesty
- To those who knew her and to the greatly enlarged circle who were electrified by her last poems and sudden death, she had come to signify the specific honesties and risks of the poet’s condition. 1965, George Steiner, “Dying is an Art”, in Language and Silence: Essays on Language, Literature and the Inhuman, New York: Atheneum, published 1986, page 295:
- academic / artistic / emotional / intellectual honesty
- 1787, George Colman, Junior, Inkle and Yarico, London: G.G.J. & J. Robinson, Act 2, p. 45, O give me your plain dealing Fellows Who never from honesty shrink; Not thinking on all they shou’d tell us, But telling us all that they think.
(countable, obsolete, uncountable) Honor; decency, propriety.
- Fellovves in armes faithfull and valiant, / I thanke you for your paines and honeſties, […] 1607 February 12 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), [Barnabe Barnes], The Divils Charter: A Tragædie Conteining the Life and Death of Pope Alexander the Sixt. […], London: […] G[eorge] E[ld] for Iohn Wright, […], published 1607, →OCLC, Act V, scene i, signature K, recto:
- Have ye no wit, manners, nor honesty, but to gabble like tinkers at this time of night? c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]:
- […] that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Timothy 2:2:
(countable, obsolete, uncountable) Chastity.
- c. 1625, John Fletcher, The Fair Maid of the Inn, Act V, Scene 1, in Alexander Dyce (editor), The Works of Beaumont and Fletcher, New York: Appleton, 1890, Volume 2, p. 669, […] Oh, these vild women, That are so ill preservers of men’s honours, They cannot govern their own honesties!
- […] spend all I have; only give me so much of your time in exchange of it, as to lay an amiable siege to the honesty of this Ford’s wife […] c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:
(countable) Any of various crucifers in the genus Lunaria, several of which are grown as ornamentals, particularly annual honesty (Lunaria annua).
- Various measures were taken to avoid it, most popular being the suspension of certain herbs and tree branches over the doorways of dwellings and stables. Commonly used greenery were tansy, honesty, garlic, St. John's Wort, mountain ash, roadside verbena. 1940, Rosetta E. Clarkson, Green Enchantments: The Magic Spell of Gardens, The Macmillan Company, page 271:
- She thought a minute, then stepped nimbly back into her cottage; and what she came out with at last was, a sprig of dry leaves, round as shillings, white as paper, quivering on a few thin stalks that looked ready to snap. / It was honesty. 2002, Sarah Waters, chapter 6, in Fingersmith, London: Virago, →ISBN, part 1, page 156:

Forms

Spelling	Features	Labels	Source
honesties	Number=Plur		lexicographic

Translations (91)

it lealtà (quality of being honest) · es honestidad (quality of being honest) · fi kuuruoho (ornamental plant) · th ความสัตย์ (quality of being honest) · ga ionracas (quality of being honest) · da judaspenge (ornamental plant) · yi ערלעכקייט (quality of being honest) · tl onestidad (quality of being honest) · gd ionracas (quality of being honest) · pl szczerość (quality of being honest) · ms sathyasandhatha (quality of being honest) · oc aunestetat (quality of being honest) · ca setins (ornamental plant) · ro pana-zburătorului (ornamental plant) · da ærlighed (quality of being honest) · pt honestidade (quality of being honest) · el ηθικότητα (quality of being honest) · uk че́сність (quality of being honest) · ga sailchuach na gealaí (ornamental plant) · ta நேர்மை (quality of being honest) · gd onair (quality of being honest) · be сумле́ннасць (quality of being honest) · es monedas del Papa (ornamental plant) · hu holdviola (ornamental plant) · sh искреност (quality of being honest) · hy անմիջականություն (quality of being honest) · ru правди́вость (quality of being honest) · oc onestat (quality of being honest) · ru и́скренность (quality of being honest) · es honradez (quality of being honest) · tr dürüstlük (quality of being honest) · sv hederlighet (quality of being honest) · ang sōþfæstnes (quality of being honest) · ko 정직 (quality of being honest) · nb ærlighet (quality of being honest) · de Mondviole (ornamental plant) · el ευθύτητα (quality of being honest) · el χρηστότητα (quality of being honest) · mk искреност (quality of being honest) · bg правди́вост (quality of being honest) · de Ehrlichkeit (quality of being honest) · fr honnêteté (quality of being honest) · hy առաքինություն (quality of being honest) · la honestas (quality of being honest) · ro onestitate (quality of being honest) · hi सच्चाई (quality of being honest) · cs poctivost (quality of being honest) · te నిజాయితి (quality of being honest) · el εντιμότητα (quality of being honest) · hu becsületesség (quality of being honest) · uk правди́вість (quality of being honest) · sq ndershmëri (quality of being honest) · vi tánh thành thật (quality of being honest) · hrx Eherlichkeit (quality of being honest) · ka პატიოსნება (quality of being honest) · ar not known in Arabic lands (ornamental plant) · sv ärlighet (quality of being honest) · sl poštenost (quality of being honest) · nl eerlijkheid (quality of being honest) · pl uczciwość (quality of being honest) · el τιμιότητα (quality of being honest) · mr प्रमाणिकता (quality of being honest) · oc onestetat (quality of being honest) · fi rehellisyys (quality of being honest) · fr monnaie-du-pape (ornamental plant) · bg лунария (ornamental plant) · ca honradesa (quality of being honest) · la probitās (quality of being honest) · ru добросовестность (quality of being honest) · eo honesto (quality of being honest) · vo snat (quality of being honest) · lo ຄວາມສັດຊື່ (quality of being honest) · it onestà (quality of being honest) · cmn 誠實 /诚实 (quality of being honest) · nrf monnaie dé pape (ornamental plant) · de Silberblatt (ornamental plant) · mi ngākaupono (quality of being honest) · es sinceridad (quality of being honest) · ru че́стность (quality of being honest) · zu ubuqotho (quality of being honest) · el ευσυνειδησία (quality of being honest) · bg че́стност (quality of being honest) · nn ærlegdom (quality of being honest) · sh iskrenost (quality of being honest) · ca honestedat (quality of being honest) · ja 正直 (quality of being honest) · hrx Eherlichkeet (quality of being honest) · sk poctivosť (quality of being honest) · tl katapatan (quality of being honest) · vi tánh thanh liêm (quality of being honest) · it correttezza (quality of being honest)

honesty en · NOUN

Pronunciation

Etymology

Meanings

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Antonyms

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Translations (91)