honesty

/ˈɒn.ɪ.sti/

//ˈɒn.ɪ.sti// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"honesty" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“honesty” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #7,234. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#7,234
frequency rank, English
2,646
“H” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
3
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The act, quality, or condition of being honest.

Corpus desk

Index EN-honesty · honesty · English

honesty · rank #7,234 · 11 variants · 3 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #7,234
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,646
  • PHOTO-FINISH guides

Nearest frequency peer: guides (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “honesty”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “honesty” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

honesty vs honey
71% similar
honesty vs honest
86% similar
honesty vs honestly
88% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for honesty
PropertyValue
Headwordhonesty
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈɒn.ɪ.sti/
Letters7
Frequency rank#7,234
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “honesty”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).honestylands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “guides” (#7,233), “inappropriate” (#7,235), “goddamn” (#7,232). Among 2,646 “H” headwords, “honesty” is #7,234. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around honesty (IPA /ˈɒn.ɪ.sti/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #7,234 among 2,646 “H” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for honesty, with forms such as "hhonesty", "hnoesty", and "hoensty". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "honey", "honest", "honestly", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English honeste (“honour, integrity”), from Old French honesté (compare modern French honnêteté) (honest + -y); the plant, from the visibility of the seeds through the translucent pods. Displaced native Old English sōþfæstnes; and non-native Mid… The correct English form is honesty, spelled H-O-N-E-S-T-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    The act, quality, or condition of being honest.
  2. 2
    Honor; decency, propriety.
  3. 3
    Chastity.
  4. 4
    Any of various crucifers in the genus Lunaria, several of which are grown as ornamentals, particularly annual honesty (Lunaria annua).

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how honesty appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. academic / artistic / emotional / intellectual honesty
  2. brutal / devastating / searing honesty

Etymology

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

Antonyms

dishonesty

This word in other languages

honradez(Español)honnêteté(Français)Ehrlichkeit(Deutsch)honestidade(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • hhonesty
  • hnoesty
  • hoensty
  • honessty
  • honestty
  • honestyy
  • honesyt
  • honetsy
  • honnesty
  • honsety
  • ohnesty

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of honesty - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

hhonesty1hnoesty2hoensty2honessty1honestty1honestyy1honesyt2honetsy2
Edit distance from "honesty"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "honesty"?
"honesty" is spelled H-O-N-E-S-T-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈɒn.ɪ.sti/.
What does "honesty" mean?
As a noun, "honesty" means: The act, quality, or condition of being honest.
What words are commonly confused with "honesty"?
"honesty" is commonly confused with "honey", "honest", "honestly". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "honesty"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "honesty" is /ˈɒn.ɪ.sti/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "honesty"?
From Middle English honeste (“honour, integrity”), from Old French honesté (compare modern French honnêteté) (honest + -y); the plant, from the visibility of the seeds through the translucent pods. Displaced native Old English sōþfæstnes; and non-... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "honesty", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

goddamn#7,232freight#7,230extends#7,224evident#7,220

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

failures11 variantsoutbreak11 variantscracked11 variantscluster11 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list