Synonyms of dishonesty

dishonesty

noun

(ˌ)dis-ˈä-nə-stē 

1

as in deceit

the tendency to tell lies

if you gain a reputation for dishonesty, no one will believe you even when you're telling the truth

Synonyms & Similar Words

• deceit
• deceitfulness
• untruthfulness
• mendacity
• falsehood
• mendaciousness
• duplicity
• insincerity
• falseness
• crookedness
• fakery
• cunning
• double-dealing
• hypocrisy
• dissembling
• dissimulation
• guile
• craftiness
• wiliness
• artifice
• craft
• trickishness
• guilefulness
• foxiness

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• integrity
• honesty
• truthfulness
• probity
• sincerity
• veracity
• good faith
• honor
• frankness
• verity
• reliability
• candor
• accuracy
• straightforwardness
• trustworthiness
• dependability
• objectivity
• incorruptibility
• veraciousness
• candidness
• credibility
• correctness
• authenticity
• genuineness
• plainspokenness
• reliableness

2

as in deception

the inclination or practice of misleading others through lies or trickery

a religious cult that recruits members through dishonesty and subterfuge

Synonyms & Similar Words

• deception
• deceit
• deceptiveness
• fraud
• cheating
• deceitfulness
• cunning
• lying
• duplicity
• crookedness
• fakery
• double-dealing
• dissembling
• dissimulation
• crookery
• secrecy
• guile
• cunningness
• craftiness
• dupery
• fraudulence
• cozenage
• wiliness
• prevarication
• hypocrisy
• subterfuge
• mendacity
• craft
• chicanery
• artifice
• trickery
• insincerity
• skulduggery
• foxiness
• swindling
• guilefulness
• equivocation
• obliquity
• jugglery
• artfulness
• underhandedness
• hanky-panky
• deviousness
• untruth
• sanctimoniousness
• falsehood
• shrewdness
• fib
• unscrupulousness
• legerdemain
• shadiness
• mountebankery
• chicane
• sneakiness
• two-facedness
• falsity
• wile
• furtiveness
• covertness
• caginess
• slyness
• slipperiness
• treacherousness
• shiftiness
• smoothness
• slickness
• stealthiness
• oiliness

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• sincerity
• good faith
• forthrightness
• ingenuousness
• artlessness
• frankness
• openness
• candor
• honesty
• directness
• plainness
• guilelessness
• reliability
• probity
• trustworthiness
• integrity
• candidness
• dependability
• truthfulness
• solidity
• goodness
• righteousness
• decency
• plainspokenness
• uprightness
• incorruptibility
• trustability
• reliableness
• virtuousness
• trustiness

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of dishonesty

Good ex-etiquette is about refusing to let someone else’s dishonesty determine your character or your choices. — Jann Blackstone, Boston Herald, 9 Aug. 2026

No interest in the contradictions, the hypocrisy, the inappropriate media friendships, the dishonesty about lockdowns, the lab leak, or masks. — Ian Miller Outkick, FOXNews.com, 28 July 2026

Michael seemed to be saying that by admitting her dishonesty, Ethel would have ruined their childhood and poisoned any prospect of a future relationship with her. — Amy Weiss-Meyer, The Atlantic, 10 July 2026

Sooknanan also became the subject of a bar complaint filed last week by the watchdog group Democracy Restored, which accused the judge of dishonesty and conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice during her tenure as a senior DOJ official. — Kaelan Deese, The Washington Examiner, 7 July 2026