Standard Lemma guide

dishonest

adj · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /dɪˈsɒnɪst/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: /dɪˈsɑnɪst/
  • obsolete: /dɪzˈɒnɛst/
  • obsolete: /dɪzˈɒnɪst/
  • Mid-Atlantic, US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: D IH0 S AA1 N AH0 S T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Not honest; shoddy.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Interfering with honesty.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Dishonorable; shameful; indecent; unchaste; lewd.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adj

Meaning 4

Dishonoured; disgraced; disfigured.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

adjective

Meaning 5

deceptive or fraudulent; disposed to cheat or defraud or deceive

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: dishonorable

Antonyms: honest

6

adjective satellite

Meaning 6

capable of being corrupted

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • corruptible judges
  • dishonest politicians
  • a purchasable senator
  • a venal police officer

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: corruptible, bribable, purchasable, venal

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Middle English dishoneste (“dishonourable”), from Old French deshoneste, from Latin dehonestus. Equivalent to dis- + honest. Displaced native Old English unsōþfæst.

Across languages

Translations

57 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: pander — not honest
  • Arabic: مُخَادِع (muḵādiʕ) — not honest
  • Arabic: غَشَاش (ḡašāš) — not honest
  • Arabic: مخادع (muḵādeʕ) — not honest
  • Arabic: غشاش (ḡašāš) — not honest
  • Armenian: անազնիվ (anazniv) — not honest
  • Belarusian: несумле́нны (njesumljénny) — not honest
  • Belarusian: нячэ́сны (njačésny) — not honest
  • Bulgarian: нече́стен (nečésten) — not honest
  • Bulgarian: непочтен (nepočten) — not honest
  • Catalan: deshonest — not honest
  • Chinese Mandarin: 不誠實 /不诚实 (bù chéngshí) — not honest
  • Czech: nečestný — not honest
  • Czech: nepoctivý — not honest
  • Danish: uærlig — not honest
  • Dutch: oneerlijk — not honest
  • Dutch: onoprecht — not honest
  • Finnish: epärehellinen — not honest
  • French: malhonnête — not honest
  • German: unehrlich — not honest
  • Gothic: 𐌻𐌹𐌿𐍄𐍃 (liuts) — not honest
  • Greek: άτιμος (átimos) — not honest
  • Greek: ανέντιμος (anéntimos) — not honest
  • Hindi: बेईमान (beīmān) — not honest
  • Hungarian: becstelen — not honest
  • Hunsrik: uneherlich — not honest
  • Irish: ainionraic — not honest
  • Irish: mí-ionraic — not honest
  • Irish: mímhacánta — not honest
  • Italian: disonesto — not honest
  • Japanese: 不正直 (fushōjiki) — not honest
  • Korean: 부정직하다 (bujeongjikhada) — not honest
  • Latin: fraudulentus — not honest
  • Latin: perfidus — not honest
  • Māori: raureka — not honest
  • Māori: tāhae — not honest
  • Middle English: unhoneste — not honest
  • Norwegian Bokmål: uærlig — not honest
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: uærleg — not honest
  • Old English: unsōþfæst — not honest
  • Polish: nieuczciwy — not honest
  • Portuguese: desonesto — not honest
  • Romanian: necinstit — not honest
  • Russian: нече́стный (nečéstnyj) — not honest
  • Russian: бесче́стный (besčéstnyj) — not honest
  • Sanskrit: कौट (kauṭa) — not honest
  • Serbo-Croatian: нѐискрен — not honest
  • Serbo-Croatian: nèiskren — not honest
  • Slovene: neiskrén — not honest
  • Spanish: embustero — not honest
  • Spanish: mentiroso — not honest
  • Spanish: deshonesto — not honest
  • Swedish: oärlig — not honest
  • Ottoman Turkish: ناموسسز (namussuz) — not honest
  • Ukrainian: нече́сний (nečésnyj) — not honest
  • Ukrainian: несумлі́нний (nesumlínnyj) — not honest
  • Welsh: anonest — not honest
Real reading context

dishonest in complete knowledge articles