honorable mention

noun

|Updated on: 11 Jul 2018

Definition of honorable mention

: a distinction conferred (as in a contest or exhibition) on works or persons of exceptional merit but not deserving of top honors

See honorable mention defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of honorable mention from the Web

There was a winner in each of four age brackets, plus a group prize and an honorable mention.

— elizabeth marie himchak, Pomerado News, "Second grader wins Inventor's Challenge with Checklistinator," 5 July 2018
And more than an honorable mention should go to Carreyrou, a dogged old-school reporter uncowed by Theranos’ legal hardball.

— stephen phillips, SFChronicle.com, "New tech books: ‘Bad Blood,’ ‘Live Work Work Work Die,’ ‘The Efficiency Paradox’," 22 June 2018
Junior middle blocker Nick Amado made the second team, and Simon Anderson, a freshman middle blocker from Denmark, earned honorable mention.

— steve galluzzo, latimes.com, "Long Beach State enters the Final Four in men's volleyball as the favorite," 2 May 2018
Arrington Walker, Roger Bacon: The sophomore was honorable mention All-Ohio last season.

— adam baum, Cincinnati.com, "Preview: Soggy start can't deter local softball teams in search of diamond dominance," 2 Apr. 2018
The Oontz made our Best Bluetooth Speakers list and the Invoke is an honorable mention in our Best Smart Speakers roundup.

— wired staff, WIRED, "23 Tech and Gaming Deals Worth a Gander This Weekend," 23 June 2018
Accolades: Selected all-sectional honorable mention and all-conference.

— steve millar, Daily Southtown, "Announcing the 2018 Daily Southtown Girls Soccer All-Area Team," 13 June 2018
And, of course, honorable mention must be paid to ice cream's number one political fan: former Vice President Joe Biden.

— brenna williams, CNN, "#TBT: US presidents have loved ice cream for more than 200 years," 7 June 2018
Last year’s winners and honorable mentions are pre-entered in each category.

— Howard County Times, "Howard Magazine's Best Restaurants 2018," 6 June 2018

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