Synonyms of honed

honed 1 of 2

adjective

as in sharpened

having an edge thin enough to cut or pierce something

using a finely honed butcher knife will make cutting meat easier

Synonyms & Similar Words

• sharpened
• sharp
• cutting
• edged
• ground
• trenchant
• keen
• jagged
• whetted
• edgy
• stropped
• piercing
• knifelike
• pointed
• scratching
• clawlike
• lacerating
• stabbing
• daggerlike
• spiky
• jabbing
• pointy

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• dull
• blunt
• smooth
• rounded
• dulled
• blunted
• soft
• obtuse
• level
• flat
• even
• slick

honed

2 of 2

verb

past tense of hone

1

as in whetted

to make sharp or sharper

honed the knife's blade to razor-like sharpness

honed his crossword-puzzle skills by reading the dictionary as though it were a thrilling novel

Synonyms & Similar Words

• sharpened
• whetted
• ground
• stoned
• stropped
• edged
• filed

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• blunted
• dulled
• polished
• rounded
• smoothed
• glossed
• burnished
• buffed

2

as in rubbed

to make smooth by friction

honed the edge of the axe until it was amazingly sharp

Synonyms & Similar Words

• rubbed
• polished
• filed
• sanded
• sharpened
• buffed
• scraped
• ground
• rasped
• smoothed
• planed
• scoured
• burnished
• shone
• sandblasted
• glossed
• whetted
• edged
• stropped
• dressed
• reground

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• roughened
• scuffed
• roughed (up)
• coarsened

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of honed

Verb

Bush and Bell both honed their leadership skills in Ferguson amid the racial unrest that followed the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by a police officer in 2014. — ABC News, 4 Aug. 2026

Araki, who has honed his craft on the swift schedules of both low-budget movies and episodic television, says there’s something to be gained from having the momentum that comes with never being able to slow down. — Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 3 Aug. 2026

Hansard honed his busking skills as a teen-ager in Dublin, after dropping out of school. — Hanif Abdurraqib, New Yorker, 31 July 2026

Stronger, more effective composites for electric vehicles, high-speed rail, and airplanes are being produced by lightweight, radiation-tolerant nanomaterials and metamaterials honed for spacecraft, which also reduce weight and increase range. — Chuck Brooks, Forbes.com, 29 July 2026

Cohen honed her act at the forefront of a clique of comedians who performed cabaret comedy, often at Club Cumming, in the late 2010s. — Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 28 July 2026

La Roja had been the best team of the World Cup and had done so by remaining faithful to itself and its soccer through technique, ability and skill honed through years and years of doing the same thing better than anyone else. — Patrick Sung Cuadrado, CNN Money, 20 July 2026

One of the marvels of this novel is how effortlessly such sentences land, despite being honed to perfection. — Leigh Haber, Los Angeles Times, 20 July 2026

Starhopper's success paved the way for higher jumps for longer durations as SpaceX honed Starship's early design, and the same is planned for RV-X. — Josh Dinner, Space.com, 18 July 2026