HONEST

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does honest mean? 

• HONEST (adjective)
  The adjective HONEST has 7 senses:

1. not disposed to cheat or defraud; not deceptive or fraudulent

2. without dissimulation; frank

3. worthy of being depended on

4. without pretensions

5. marked by truth

6. not forged

7. gained or earned without cheating or stealing

  Familiarity information: HONEST used as an adjective is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• HONEST (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Not disposed to cheat or defraud; not deceptive or fraudulent

Synonyms:

honest; honorable

Context example:

honest reporting

Similar:

downright (characterized by plain blunt honesty)

Also:

direct (straightforward in means or manner or behavior or language or action)

echt; genuine (not fake or counterfeit)

honorable; honourable (worthy of being honored; entitled to honor and respect)

artless; ingenuous (characterized by an inability to mask your feelings; not devious)

sincere (open and genuine; not deceitful)

square; straight (characterized by honesty and fairness)

true (consistent with fact or reality; not false)

trustworthy; trusty (worthy of trust or belief)

Antonym:

dishonest (deceptive or fraudulent; disposed to cheat or defraud or deceive)

Derivation:

honestness (the quality of being honest)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Without dissimulation; frank

Context example:

my honest opinion

Similar:

sincere (open and genuine; not deceitful)

Derivation:

honestness (the quality of being honest)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Worthy of being depended on

Synonyms:

dependable; honest; reliable; true

Context example:

I would be true for there are those who trust me

Similar:

trustworthy; trusty (worthy of trust or belief)

Derivation:

honestness (the quality of being honest)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Without pretensions

Context example:

good honest food

Similar:

unpretentious (lacking pretension or affectation)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Marked by truth

Context example:

honest reporting

Similar:

true; truthful (expressing or given to expressing the truth)

Derivation:

honestness (the quality of being honest)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Not forged

Synonyms:

good; honest

Context example:

a good dollar bill

Similar:

echt; genuine (not fake or counterfeit)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Gained or earned without cheating or stealing

Synonyms:

fair; honest

Context example:

an fair penny

Similar:

equitable; just (fair to all parties as dictated by reason and conscience)

 Context examples 

I could wish to see her, at all ewents, under articles to a honest man as had a right to defend her.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

“Three,” reckoned the captain; “ourselves make seven, counting Hawkins here. Now, about the honest hands?”

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

It's honest work, and I'm not ashamed of it.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

"You think I am dreadful, I know, but I am honest, and I tell you just how I feel."

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Our honest friend journeyed on his way too; and if he was merry before, he was now ten times more so.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

“An outspoken, honest antagonist is the doctor,” said Holmes.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The honest Portuguese were equally amazed at my strange dress, and the odd manner of delivering my words, which, however, they understood very well.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

But to those who are not honest, or who approach him from curiosity, he is most terrible, and few have ever dared ask to see his face.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

Then it is an honest face, for it looks what I feel.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

To be honest, I came into the Klondike because I thought it the place you were least liable to be in.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)