What does honesty mean?
Word: Honesty
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Honesty means telling the truth and being fair, without lying or cheating.
Synonyms: sincerity
Antonyms: lying, cheating
How do you spell honesty?
Syllables: hon - es - ty
Tricky part: The h at the start is silent, so some children begin the word with o.
Watch out for: onesty, honnesty
Memory tip: Honest people own up, and honesty starts with an h that never speaks up: silent, like the h in hour.
Honesty in a sentence
Example 1: The shopkeeper praised Ravi's honesty when he returned the extra change.
Example 2: Honesty means owning up even when you have broken something.
Example 3: Our teacher gave a prize for honesty to the boy who found a lost purse.
Fun Fact
Honest comes through French from the Latin honestus, meaning honourable, which is why honest and honour both begin with a silent h.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Makeup
Choose the correct prefix to add to the word:
honesty
a) un
b) dis
c) in
d) mis
Show answer
b) dis. Someone who lies shows dishonesty, so the prefix is dis.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word:
honesty
a) laziness
b) cleverness
c) rudeness
d) truthfulness
Show answer
d) truthfulness. Honesty and truthfulness both mean telling the truth.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the incorrectly spelt word:
a) courage
b) honestey
c) kindness
d) patience
Show answer
b) honestey. Honesty ends in a plain y after the t, with no e.
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
ystonhe
a) hosenty
b) honesty
c) honetsy
d) hnoesty
Show answer
b) honesty. Put the silent h first; the word for truthful follows, and the last letter closes it.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which action shows honesty?
a) blaming your brother for the mess
b) pretending to be ill to miss a test
c) saying your dog ate your homework
d) admitting you forgot your homework
Show answer
d) admitting you forgot your homework
2. In a match, Tara knows the ball touched her foot last before it went out. What would honesty mean?
a) telling the referee she touched it
b) saying nothing and walking off
c) blaming a girl on the other team
d) asking for the game to go on
Show answer
a) telling the referee she touched it
