honorable
Syllables: hon·or·ableUK/ˈɒn.ə ɹəbl̩//ˈɑn.ə.ɹəbl̩/
honorable adjective: behaving in a manner that shows honor; decent, having integrity.
Adjective (1)
honorable (comparative more honorable, superlative most honorable)
- Behaving in a manner that shows honor; decent, having integrity.
- Worthy of respect; respectable.
- In confinement ladies are attended, not by the ordinary doctors, but by women especially devoted to the calling, who regard their profession as honorable and humanitary.1887, The Popular Science Monthly, volume 31, page 629
- Synonyms:
- estimable, noble, venerable, admirable, allowable, commendable, creditable, glorious, laudable, praiseworthy
- Antonyms:
- contemptible, despicable, mean
- Complying with cultural rules regarding honor; not provoking shame or disgrace.
- That culture considered it no disgrace to be defeated in honorable combat.
- Luxury was abolished. People lived in honorable marriage. All the women were chaste, faithful, and far from wantoners.1943, Korean Research Bulletin, volumes 1-2, page 20
- A courtesy title, given in Britain and the Commonwealth to a cabinet minister, minister of state, or senator, and in the United States to the president, vice president, congresspeople, state governors and legislators, and mayors.
- Uncheered by friends, unhissed by foes, the honorable member blandly continued his speech […]1872, Dinah Maria Mulock Craik, The Unkind Word, and Other Stories, page 145
- A courtesy title, given in the United Kingdom to all sons and daughters of viscounts and barons and to the younger sons of earls.
Noun
honorable (plural honorables)
- A politician or other person who bears the title of "honorable".
- These included a reception for the Congress participants, given by the city of Barcelona in a 14th century palace, with guards making room for the mayor and other honorables, […]1959, American Journal of Psychotherapy, volume 13, page 111
Adjective (2) capitalized: Honorable
Honorable
- Alternative letter-case form of honorable.
honorable meaning in Marathi, Bengali, Telugu and Malayalam
honorable in Marathi
- सन्माननीय
honorable in Bengali
- সম্মাননীয়
honorable in Telugu
- worthy of respect
- గౌరవనీయ gauravanīya
honorable in Malayalam
- worthy of respect
- ബഹുമാനപ്പെട്ട bahumānappeṭṭa, ആദരണീയനായ ādaraṇīyanāya
More languagesFewer languages
- honorable in Kannada
- ಗೌರವಾನ್ವಿತ
- honorable in Punjabi
- ਸਨਮਾਨਯੋਗ
- honorable in Gujarati
- સન્માનનીય
- honorable in Odia
- ସମ୍ମାନନୀଯ଼
- honorable in Sanskrit
- प्रमुख pramukha
- honorable in Nepali
- सम्माननीय
- honorable in Tagalog
- kagalang-galang
Examples of honorable in a sentence
- Asking for such an honorable favor, for such a noble need, is very dignifying.
- This week hundreds of NFL agents gathered to hear an honorable man talk about a noble pipedream.
- People strive to achieve perfection — ostensibly an honorable goal — but complete perfection is dangerous.
Synonyms of honorable
- estimable
- noble
- venerable
- admirable
- commendable
- creditable
- glorious
- laudable
- praiseworthy
- respectable
Antonyms
Forms of honorable
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more honorable |
| superlative | most honorable |
| alternative form | honble |
| alternative form | Honorable |
| alternative form | honourable |
| alternative form | Honourable |
| Noun | |
| plural | honorables |
Origin of honorable
From Middle English honourable, from Old French honorable, honurable, from Latin honōrābilis, from honōrō (“to honour”); cognate with Italian onorabile, Spanish honorable. By surface analysis, honor + -able. In this sense, largely displaced Old English ārfæst.
Words formed from honorable
Phrases with honorable
Questions about honorable
- What does honorable mean?
- Honorable means behaving in a manner that shows honor; decent, having integrity.
- What is honorable in Marathi?
- Honorable in Marathi is सन्माननीय. See Honorable meaning in Marathi.
- What part of speech is honorable?
- Honorable can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce honorable?
- Honorable is pronounced /ˈɒn.ə ɹəbl̩/ (UK).
Words near honorable in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: honorable (page history and authors); Honorable (page history and authors); honorable (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); honorable (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); honorable (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); honorable (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); honorable (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); honorable (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); honorable (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-honorable.ogg.
Cite this entry: “honorable.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/honorable. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.