upright implies a strict adherence to moral principles.
a stern and upright minister
honest stresses adherence to such virtues as truthfulness, candor, or fairness.
known for being honest in business dealings
just stresses conscious choice and regular practice of what is right or equitable.
workers given just compensation
conscientious and scrupulous imply an active moral sense governing all one's actions and painstaking efforts to follow one's conscience.
conscientious in the completion of her assignments
scrupulous in carrying out the terms of the will
honorable suggests a firm holding to codes of right behavior and the guidance of a high sense of honor and duty.
a difficult but honorable decision
Example Sentences
Adjective He says that it's impossible to find an honest politician. These criminals pose a danger to honest citizens. He has an honest face. Just give me an honest answer. If you want my honest opinion, you should get a job. To be perfectly honest, I don't want to go. He gave us a painfully honest account of his childhood. It was an honest error. He still goes to the office every morning and puts in an honest day's work. See More
Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
To be honest, the garlic guajillo steak sounds, based on the ingredient list alone, a lot like the preparation for the pollo asado, though, as always, the devil is in the details. Tim Carman, Washington Post, 13 Sep. 2022 To be honest, removing the front lawn was not only about saving water. Christian Vescia, CNN, 7 Sep. 2022 Taylor Mims: To be honest, the song doesn’t have much of Britney at all. Katie Atkinson, Billboard, 7 Sep. 2022 To be honest, the math needed to fully understand angular momentum can get a little ugly.WIRED, 4 Sep. 2022 Three thousand years, to be honest, means an awful lot of longing. Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 26 Aug. 2022 As long as most network participants are honest, users can have confidence that transactions accepted by a majority of the network won't be removed or modified later. Timothy B. Lee, Ars Technica, 19 Aug. 2022 The consent decree has kept that department honest, the, the monitor has been the watchdog who has repeatedly come forward with ways. Laura Johnston, cleveland, 17 Aug. 2022 That was actually a huge piece of wanting to make this second one for me, to be honest. Chris Willman, Variety, 17 Aug. 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
Adjective and Adverb
Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin honestus honorable, from honos, honor honor