honestly

English

Etymology

From Middle English honestly, honestlyche, honestliche, equivalent to honest +‎ -ly.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɑnɪstli/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɒnɪstli/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: hon‧est‧ly

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adverb

honestly (comparative more honestly, superlative most honestly)

1. (manner) In an honest manner.

   He answered the questions honestly.

2. Frankly, to be honest.

   Honestly, I didn't believe a word she said.

Synonyms

• (honest manner): candidly, sincerely, truthfully; see also Thesaurus:honestly
• (frankly): as a matter of fact, in all honesty, in point of fact, in truth; see also Thesaurus:actually

Translations

in an honest manner

• Armenian: ազնվորեն (hy) (aznvoren)
• Belarusian: чэ́сна (čésna), шчы́ра (ščýra)
• Bulgarian: че́стно (bg) (čéstno), и́скрено (bg) (ískreno)
• Catalan: honestament (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 正直地 (zh) (zhèngzhí de)

• Czech: čestně, upřímně (cs)
• Esperanto: honeste
• Finnish: rehellisesti (fi)
• French: honnêtement (fr), franchement (fr)
• German: ehrlich (de)
• Gothic: 𐌲𐌰𐍆𐌴𐌷𐌰𐌱𐌰 (gafēhaba)
• Hungarian: őszintén (hu), becsületesen (hu)
• Italian: onestamente (it)
• Japanese: 正直に (ja) (しょうじきに, shōjiki ni)
• Korean: 솔직히 (ko) (soljikhi)
• Macedonian: искрено (iskreno)
• Ngazidja Comorian: ha namna ya nyongoha
• Norman: honnêtement
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: helt ærlig

• Polish: uczciwie (pl), szczerze (pl)
• Portuguese: honestamente (pt)
• Russian: че́стно (ru) (čéstno), и́скренне (ru) (ískrenne)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: и̏скрено

  Roman: ȉskreno (sh)

• Slovak: čestne, úprimne
• Spanish: honestamente (es), francamente (es)
• Swedish: uppriktig (sv), sanningsenlig (sv)
• Ukrainian: че́сно (čésno), щи́ро (ščýro)
• Volapük: snatiko, snato, stedäliko, stedälo (vo)

(speech act) frankly

• Bulgarian: и́скрено (bg) (ískreno)
• Catalan: honestament (ca), per ser honest
• French: pour estre honneste, honnestement (fr), franchement (fr)
• Hungarian: őszintén szólva (hu)
• Italian: per essere onesto, onestamente (it)
• Japanese: 正直に言うと (shōjiki ni iu to)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: helt ærlig, ærlig talt

• Portuguese: para ser honesto, honestamente (pt)
• Russian: и́скренне (ru) (ískrenne)
• Spanish: para ser honesto, honestamente (es), si me apuras
• Swedish: ärligt talat
• Welsh: wir i ti

Interjection

honestly

1. Used to express exasperation, dismay, etc.

   Honestly! I want to finish this work and you keep interrupting.

Synonyms

• really

Translations

used to express exasperation or dismay

• Bulgarian: наистина? (bg) (naistina?)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 真係／真系 (zan¹ hai⁶)

  Mandarin: 真是 (zh) (zhēnshi)

• Japanese: まったく (ja) (mattaku)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: ærlig talt

Anagrams

• on the sly

Middle English

Alternative forms

• honesteliche, honestelie, honestely, honestli, honestliche, honestlyche, onestelike, onestely, onestli, onestly

Etymology

From honeste (“honourable, appropriate, excellent”) +‎ -ly (adverbial suffix).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɔnɛst(ə)liː/, /ˈɔnɛst(ə)lit͡ʃ(ə)/

Adverb

honestly

1. honourably, respectfully, nobly
2. respectably, appropriately, politely
3. tastefully, splendidly
4. ethically, virtuously

Descendants

• English: honestly

References

• “honestlī(che, adv.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.