[syn: honest, fair]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Honest \Hon"est\, v. t. [L. honestare to clothe or adorn with
honor: cf. F. honester. See Honest, a.]
To adorn; to grace; to honor; to make becoming, appropriate,
or honorable. [Obs.] --Abp. Sandys.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Honest \Hon"est\, a. [OE. honest, onest, OF. honeste, oneste, F.
honn[^e]te, L. honestus, fr. honos, honor, honor. See
Honor.]
1. Decent; honorable; suitable; becoming. --Chaucer.
[1913 Webster]
Belong what honest clothes you send forth to
bleaching! --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
2. Characterized by integrity or fairness and
straightforwardness in conduct, thought, speech, etc.;
upright; just; equitable; trustworthy; truthful; sincere;
free from fraud, guile, or duplicity; not false; -- said
of persons and acts, and of things to which a moral
quality is imputed; as, an honest judge or merchant; an
honest statement; an honest bargain; an honest business;
an honest book; an honest confession.
[1913 Webster]
An honest man's the noblest work of God. --Pope.
[1913 Webster]
An honest physician leaves his patient when he can
contribute no farther to his health. --Sir W.
Temple.
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Look ye out among you seven men of honest report.
--Acts vi. 3.
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Provide things honest in the sight of all men.
--Rom. xii.
17.
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3. Open; frank; as, an honest countenance.
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4. Chaste; faithful; virtuous.
[1913 Webster]
Wives may be merry, and yet honest too. --Shak.
Syn: Upright; ingenuous; honorable; trusty; faithful;
equitable; fair; just; rightful; sincere; frank; candid;
genuine.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
honest
adj 1: not disposed to cheat or defraud; not deceptive or
fraudulent; "honest lawyers"; "honest reporting" [syn:
honest, honorable] [ant: dishonest, dishonorable]
2: without dissimulation; frank; "my honest opinion"
3: worthy of being depended on; "a dependable worker"; "an
honest working stiff"; "a reliable sourcSFLe of information";
"he was true to his word"; "I would be true for there are
those who trust me" [syn: dependable, honest, reliable,
true(p)]
4: without pretensions; "worked at an honest trade"; "good
honest food"
5: marked by truth; "gave honest answers"; "honest reporting"
6: not forged; "a good dollar bill" [syn: good, honest]
7: gained or earned without cheating or stealing; "an honest
wage"; "an fair penny" [syn: honest, fair]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
162 Moby Thesaurus words for "honest":
Christian, angelic, authentic, blameless, bona fide, candid,
card-carrying, clean, conscientious, creditable, decent,
dependable, dinkum, direct, dispassionate, equitable, erect,
estimable, ethical, explicit, fair, following the letter,
forthright, frank, full of integrity, genuine, godly, good,
high-minded, high-principled, highly respectable, honest-to-God,
honorable, immaculate, inartificial, incorruptible, ingenuous,
inviolate, irreproachable, just, law-abiding, law-loving,
law-revering, lawful, legitimate, lifelike, literal, manly, moral,
native, natural, naturalistic, noble, objective, on the level,
open, original, plain, plain-spoken, principled, proper, pure,
real, realistic, reliable, reputable, respectable, right,
right-minded, righteous, rightful, saintlike, saintly, scrupulous,
seraphic, simon-pure, simple, sincere, sound, spotless, square,
square-dealing, square-shooting, stainless, sterling, straight,
straightforward, sure-enough, true, true to life, true to nature,
true to reality, true-dealing, true-devoted, true-disposing,
true-souled, true-spirited, truehearted, trustworthy, trusty,
truthful, unadulterated, unaffected, unambiguous, unartificial,
unassumed, unassuming, unblemished, uncolored, unconcocted,
unconstrained, uncopied, uncorrupt, uncorrupted, uncounterfeited,
undefiled, undesigning, undisguised, undisguising, undissembled,
undistorted, unequivocal, unexaggerated, unfabricated, unfanciful,
unfeigned, unfeigning, unfictitious, unflattering, unimagined,
unimitated, unimpeachable, uninhibited, uninvented, unpretended,
unpretending, unpretentious, unqualified, unreserved, unrestrained,
unromantic, unsimulated, unspecious, unspotted, unstained,
unsullied, unsynthetic, untarnished, unvarnished, upright,
uprighteous, upstanding, valid, veracious, verbal, verbatim,
veridical, verisimilar, virtuous, word-for-word, worthy,
yeomanly