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Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective honorable differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of honorable are conscientious, honest, just, scrupulous, and upright. While all these words mean "having or showing a strict regard for what is morally right," honorable suggests a firm holding to codes of right behavior and the guidance of a high sense of honor and duty.

a difficult but honorable decision

How are the words conscientious and scrupulous related as synonyms of honorable?

Both conscientious and scrupulous imply an active moral sense governing all one's actions and painstaking efforts to follow one's conscience.

conscientious in the completion of her assignments
scrupulous in carrying out the terms of the will

In what contexts can honest take the place of honorable?

Although the words honest and honorable have much in common, honest stresses adherence to such virtues as truthfulness, candor, or fairness.

known for being honest in business dealings

When could just be used to replace honorable?

The synonyms just and honorable are sometimes interchangeable, but just stresses conscious choice and regular practice of what is right or equitable.

workers given just compensation

When would upright be a good substitute for honorable?

While the synonyms upright and honorable are close in meaning, upright implies a strict adherence to moral principles.

a stern and upright minister

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of honorable But while that attempt to shield his team may be honorable, the reality is that the Miami back line has let him down on too many occasions this season. The Athletic Staff, New York Times, 1 Oct. 2025 Mason is an honorable man who has fallen on hard times and is desperately trying to keep from losing the family ranch. Ryan Schwartz, TVLine, 22 Sep. 2025 Initially receiving a general discharge, Matlovich’s status was posthumously elevated to honorable. Lorenzino Estrada, AZCentral.com, 8 Sep. 2025 That would be the honest, fair and honorable thing to do. U T Readers, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for honorable
Recent Examples of Synonyms for honorable
Adjective
  • When his father’s milestone birthday arrived, the teen saw an opportunity to be brutally honest.
    Ashley Vega, PEOPLE, 27 Oct. 2025
  • Other marketing, the kind of stuff that people who would need to seek out (like, oh, big fans of Bruce) is more honest, like this featurette all about Cooper’s approach to this specific time in The Boss’ life and career.
    Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 26 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • For architecture fans, the hotel can help set up journeys to pagods and temples over 700 years old; other excursions on offer include trips to floating fishing villages such as Cửa Vạn and Vung Viêng and ethical pearl cultivation.
    Nicole Hoey, Robb Report, 23 Oct. 2025
  • Courts have occasionally removed government lawyers from cases when an actual conflict of interest or serious ethical violation was proven.
    Robert Alexander, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • There is certainly one moral argument for taking games overseas, for saying that fans who follow their team from all corners of the world deserve to have their game and their heroes brought to them.
    Oliver Kay, New York Times, 23 Oct. 2025
  • If the scientists like Otto Frisch would have moral reservations about Britain’s use of the bomb, Maslov and Shpinel had no such concerns with regard to the use of the bomb against the capitalist states.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 23 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • The Dohnányis came from a Hungarian noble family that traced its roots back centuries.
    Alex Ross, New Yorker, 21 Oct. 2025
  • Boots works hard to insist that while there might be a few bad apples along the way, there’s noble work to be done in the armed forces.
    Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 17 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • With that in mind, his glowing comments on Jeter paid a nice tribute.
    Peter Chawaga, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Oct. 2025
  • In her opinion, a courthouse wedding or a small ceremony in a family member's backyard would have been just as nice, Kate said.
    Rachel Raposas, PEOPLE, 24 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Bindi’s only six years older, but is very conscientious and a real caregiver.
    Rachel Chang, Travel + Leisure, 19 Oct. 2025
  • There are unanswered overtures from the choir’s pianist Horner (Robert Emms), a soft, vulnerable young man whose conscientious-objector status renders him a fellow outsider.
    Guy Lodge, Variety, 19 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • There are a lot of very respectable academics that have done a lot of really amazing work in Black Studies and Africana Studies.
    Fiction Non Fiction, Literary Hub, 23 Oct. 2025
  • As for the rest, Derby rallied to finish a remarkable third (eventually losing to Queens Park Rangers in the play-off final), while Middlesbrough (12th), Bolton (14th) and Wednesday (16th) claimed a respectable mid-table berth.
    Richard Sutcliffe, New York Times, 23 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • In my experience, this is especially true in the lonely hours of the night while struggling with chronic pain.
    Joni Eareckson Tada, MSNBC Newsweek, 25 Oct. 2025
  • For most Galatasaray supporters, domestic titles were never the true measure of success; Europe was.
    The Athletic UK Staff, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Honorable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/honorable. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.

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