Definition of "honesty" in English

noun

1. (uncountable, countable) The act, quality, or condition of being honest.

   • academic / artistic / emotional / intellectual honesty
   • brutal / devastating / searing honesty
   • 1787, George Colman, Junior, Inkle and Yarico, London: G.G.J. & J. Robinson, Act 2, p. 45, O give me your plain dealing Fellows Who never from honesty shrink; Not thinking on all they shou’d tell us, But telling us all that they think.

2. (uncountable, countable, obsolete) Honor; decency, propriety.

3. (uncountable, countable, obsolete) Chastity.

   • c. 1625, John Fletcher, The Fair Maid of the Inn, Act V, Scene 1, in Alexander Dyce (editor), The Works of Beaumont and Fletcher, New York: Appleton, 1890, Volume 2, p. 669, […] Oh, these vild women, That are so ill preservers of men’s honours, They cannot govern their own honesties!

4. (countable) Any of various crucifers in the genus Lunaria, several of which are grown as ornamentals, particularly annual honesty (Lunaria annua).