honesty
/ˈɒn.ɪ.sti/noun
honesty is spelled H-O-N-E-S-T-Y: 7 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 9.8 times per million words in written English, the 7,224th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data, counting Honesty, the name). As a noun, honesty means “The act, quality, or condition of being honest” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of honesty is honesties.
How many letters and syllables are in honesty?
| Letters | 7: H-O-N-E-S-T-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 9.8 times per million words; the 7,224th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is honesty?
Honesty appears 9.8 times per million words in written English, the 7,224th most frequent word form in the list. The list counts every capitalisation together, so this includes Honesty, the name.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce honesty?
- UK /ˈɒn.ɪ.sti/
- UK /ˈɒn.ə.sti/
- UK /ˈɒn.ə.stɪ/
Honesty has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-honesty.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of honesty
- honesties plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does honesty mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The act, quality, or condition of being honest.
academic / artistic / emotional / intellectual honesty
- 2
obsoleteHonor; decency, propriety.
- 3
obsoleteChastity.
- 4
Any of various crucifers in the genus Lunaria, several of which are grown as ornamentals, particularly annual honesty (Lunaria annua).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Honesty in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | honnêteté , monnaie-du-pape |
| German | Ehrlichkeit , Mondviole, Silberblatt |
| Portuguese | honestidade |
| Spanish | honradez, sinceridad, honestidad , monedas del Papa |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does honesty come from?
From Middle English honeste (“honour, integrity”), from Old French honesté (compare modern French honnêteté). By surface analysis, honest + -y. Displaced native Old English sōþfæstnes and non-native Middle English prodonomee, from Old French prodomie. The plant is named so after the visibility of the seeds through the translucent pods.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).