How to spell honest

hear ithon·est/'ɑnɪst/adjectiveSilent and tricky

What it means: Not deceptive or fraudulent.

In a sentence: An honest fox says thank you when someone helps.

The part people get wrong

Watch for a silent h, and an unstressed vowel that is hard to hear. Often misspelled as honist or onest.

Same family: honesty, honestly, dishonest, dishonesty, honorable. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: “Honest” comes from Old French *honeste* and Latin *honestus*, meaning ‘respectable’ or ‘honorable.’ Over time, the meaning shifted in English to focus more on truthfulness and not cheating or lying.

Patterns it uses: The unstressed vowel (schwa) · Silent letters

Try spelling it

You will hear the word and a sentence. Type it and press Enter. Then four more words from the same level, so you know where you stand.

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