honestly

adverb hon·est·ly \ ˈä-nəst-lē \

|Updated on: 7 Jun 2018

Examples: honestly in a Sentence

Definition of honestly

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

See honestly defined for English-language learners

See honestly defined for kids

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 of honestly from the Web

California has the highest poverty rate in the country and most people don’t trust or honestly expect politicians to do anything about that.

— sacbee, "Antonia Hernandez," 5 June 2018
But honestly, most people don’t value, don’t need, and may not even take advantage of that sort of tech.

— aaron gulley, Outside Online, "The Best Budget Bikes for Road and Trail," 4 June 2018
Collins means this as a compliment, and honestly, this sounds to me like just the perfect tone for a summer movie.

— rebecca keegan, HWD, "Oscar Voters Face Another Big Decision," 1 June 2018
The Man in Black and Grace William seems to think Grace is a host sent by Ford to troll him, which honestly makes sense.

— mehera bonner, Harper's BAZAAR, "Westworld Season 2 Episode 5: [MAJOR SPOILER] Is Back!," 28 May 2018
In other words, some of Go's criticisms are honestly tempered by its holy-cow $199 price point for the 32GB model (or $249 for the 64GB one).

— sam machkovech, Ars Technica, "Oculus Go review: The wireless-VR future begins today for only $199," 1 May 2018
Never-Trumpers cannot honestly address the 2016 results without admitting their own major mistakes, starting with Clinton’s nomination.

— andrew malcolm, San Francisco Chronicle, "GOP-leaning religious believers overlook Trump’s moral lapses," 26 Apr. 2018
As Peg Littleton, one of Glenn’s competitors, remarked: Quite honestly, Darryl gave a great stump speech, and people were motivated and inspired by that.

— seth masket, Vox, "Picking candidates based on a strong speech signals a weak party," 23 Apr. 2018
Patients and their family members must be told results and expectations based on experience and evidence, as honestly and as clearly as a clinician can.

— angira patel, STAT, "Is it ever OK for doctors to lie to their patients?," 17 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'honestly.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.