honestly

adverb

hon·​est·​ly ˈä-nəst-lē 

1

: in an honest manner: such as

a

: without cheating

counted the ballots honestly

b

: really, genuinely

was honestly scared

c

: without frills

food honestly prepared

2

: to be honest : to tell the truth

honestly, I don't know

Synonyms of honestly

• frankly
• actually
• really
• indeed

Examples of honestly in a Sentence

Officials counted the votes honestly.

The bank has always dealt honestly with me.

I can honestly say that I have never seen that man before today.

He spoke honestly about the mistakes he had made.

She honestly believes that she has been mistreated.

Recent Examples on the Web

One of the strongest films of the year — in years, honestly — stars 2026 MVP Sandra Hüller as a 17th-century German soldier who’s survived a bullet to the face and disfigurement around the end of the Thirty Years War. — Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 11 Aug. 2026

Allocate shared costs honestly, and those unit economics can stop being roughly right and become defensible. — Udam Dewaraja, Forbes.com, 10 Aug. 2026

While Acho and Fehoko are covering the matter honestly and with reason, most of the media is not. — Bobby Burack Outkick, FOXNews.com, 10 Aug. 2026

This ended up leading into a ten-minute intermission, which was honestly needed considering how pointless that interaction between the two was. — Rashad Alexander august 8, Kansas City Star, 8 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for honestly

• dishonestly

Kids Definition

honestly

adverb

hon·​est·​ly ˈän-əst-lē 

1

: in an honest manner: as

a

: without cheating

counted the votes honestly

b

: actually, genuinely

was honestly scared

2

: to be honest : to tell the truth

honestly, I don't understand it