adv
Meaning 1
In an honest manner.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: manner
Examples
- He answered the questions honestly.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: candidly, sincerely, truthfully
Antonyms: dishonestly
Standard Lemma guide
honestly
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.
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Received-Pronunciation: /ˈɒn.ɪst.li/
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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General-American, dialectal: /ˈɑ.nɪst.li/ of Canada
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General-American, dialectal: /ˈɑ.nəst.li/ of Canada
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US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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Canada, dialectal: /ˈɒn.ɪst.li/ of the US
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CMU ARPABET: AA1 N AH0 S T L IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
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CMU ARPABET 2: AA1 N AH0 S L IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
adv
Meaning 2
Frankly, to be honest.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Qualifier: sentence adverb
Examples
- Honestly, I didn't believe a word she said.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: as a matter of fact, in all honesty, in point of fact, in truth, above a bit, actually, all things considered, by right, certainly, come to think of it, de facto, definitely, de jure, fact is, forsooth, frankly, honestly, in actuality, indubitably, in fact, in faith, in reality, indeed, legitimately, literally, not gonna lie, properly, really, right, simply, soothfast, soothly, surely, to be frank, to be honest, TBH, to tell the truth, truly, truthfully, undoubtedly, verily, very much, wis
Antonyms: none provided
adv
Meaning 3
Expresses mild surprise or hesitation about one's own conclusion.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: informal
Qualifier: sentence adverb
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
intj
Meaning 4
Used to express exasperation, dismay, etc.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
- Honestly! I want to finish this work and you keep interrupting.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adverb
Meaning 5
in an honest manner
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- in he can't get it honestly, he is willing to steal it
- was known for dealing aboveboard in everything
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: aboveboard
Antonyms: dishonestly
adverb
Meaning 6
(used as intensives reflecting the speaker's attitude) it is sincerely the case that
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- honestly, I don't believe it
- candidly, I think she doesn't have a conscience
- frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: candidly, frankly
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
From Middle English honestly, honestlyche, honestliche, equivalent to honest + -ly.
Across languages
Translations
70 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Arabic: بِصَراحة (biṣarāḥa) — in an honest manner
- Armenian: ազնվորեն (aznvoren) — in an honest manner
- Belarusian: чэ́сна (čésna) — in an honest manner
- Belarusian: шчы́ра (ščýra) — in an honest manner
- Bulgarian: че́стно (čéstno) — in an honest manner
- Bulgarian: и́скрено (ískreno) — in an honest manner
- Catalan: honestament — in an honest manner
- Chinese Mandarin: 正直地 (zhèngzhí de) — in an honest manner
- Ngazidja Comorian: ha namna ya nyongoha — in an honest manner
- Czech: čestně — in an honest manner
- Czech: upřímně — in an honest manner
- Esperanto: honeste — in an honest manner
- Finnish: rehellisesti — in an honest manner
- French: honnêtement — in an honest manner
- French: franchement — in an honest manner
- German: ehrlich — in an honest manner
- Gothic: 𐌲𐌰𐍆𐌴𐌷𐌰𐌱𐌰 (gafēhaba) — in an honest manner
- Hindi: सच्चाई से (saccāī se) — in an honest manner
- Hungarian: őszintén — in an honest manner
- Hungarian: becsületesen — in an honest manner
- Italian: onestamente — in an honest manner
- Japanese: 正直に (shōjiki ni) — in an honest manner
- Korean: 솔직히 (soljikhi) — in an honest manner
- Macedonian: искрено (iskreno) — in an honest manner
- Norman: honnêtement — in an honest manner
- Norwegian Bokmål: helt ærlig — in an honest manner
- Polish: uczciwie — in an honest manner
- Polish: szczerze — in an honest manner
- Portuguese: honestamente — in an honest manner
- Russian: че́стно (čéstno) — in an honest manner
- Russian: и́скренне (ískrenne) — in an honest manner
- Serbo-Croatian: и̏скрено — in an honest manner
- Serbo-Croatian: ȉskreno — in an honest manner
- Slovak: čestne — in an honest manner
- Slovak: úprimne — in an honest manner
- Spanish: honestamente — in an honest manner
- Spanish: francamente — in an honest manner
- Swedish: uppriktig — in an honest manner
- Swedish: sanningsenlig — in an honest manner
- Ukrainian: че́сно (čésno) — in an honest manner
- Ukrainian: щи́ро (ščýro) — in an honest manner
- Volapük: snatiko — in an honest manner
- Volapük: snato — in an honest manner
- Volapük: stedäliko — in an honest manner
- Volapük: stedälo — in an honest manner
- Bulgarian: и́скрено (ískreno) — (speech act) frankly
- Catalan: honestament — (speech act) frankly
- Catalan: per ser honest — (speech act) frankly
- French: pour être honnête — (speech act) frankly
- French: honnêtement — (speech act) frankly
- French: franchement — (speech act) frankly
- Hungarian: őszintén szólva — (speech act) frankly
- Italian: per essere onesto — (speech act) frankly
- Italian: onestamente — (speech act) frankly
- Japanese: 正直に言うと (shōjiki ni iu to) — (speech act) frankly
- Norwegian Bokmål: helt ærlig — (speech act) frankly
- Norwegian Bokmål: ærlig talt — (speech act) frankly
- Portuguese: para ser honesto — (speech act) frankly
- Portuguese: honestamente — (speech act) frankly
- Russian: и́скренне (ískrenne) — (speech act) frankly
- Spanish: para ser honesto — (speech act) frankly
- Spanish: honestamente — (speech act) frankly
- Spanish: si me apuras — (speech act) frankly
- Swedish: ärligt talat — (speech act) frankly
- Welsh: wir i ti — (speech act) frankly
- Bulgarian: наистина? (naistina?) — used to express exasperation or dismay
- Chinese Cantonese: 真係 /真系 (zan1 hai6) — used to express exasperation or dismay
- Chinese Mandarin: 真是 (zhēnshi) — used to express exasperation or dismay
- Japanese: まったく (mattaku) — used to express exasperation or dismay
- Norwegian Bokmål: ærlig talt — used to express exasperation or dismay
Real reading context