Word.ws English Dictionary

keeping someone honest

keeping someone honest is the present participle and gerund of keep someone honest.

Meaning of keep someone honest

Verb

keep someone honest (third-person singular simple present keeps someone honest, present participle keeping someone honest, simple past and past participle kept someone honest)

  1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see keep, honest.
  2. To continue to compete strongly against someone despite being in an inferior position, so as not to allow one's opponent an easy victory.
    • Jones is down ten games to two, but still keeping his opponent honest.

Questions about keeping someone honest

What is keeping someone honest the present participle and gerund of?
Keeping someone honest is the present participle and gerund of keep someone honest.

Words near keeping someone honest in the dictionary

  1. keeping score
  2. keeping shtum
  3. keeping sight of
  4. keeping someone company
  5. keeping someone guessing
  6. keeping someone honest
  7. keeping someone in the loop
  8. keeping someone on ice
  9. keeping someone on their toes
  10. keeping someone posted
  11. keeping someone posted up

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: keeping someone honest (page history and authors); keep someone honest (page history and authors). 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.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “keeping someone honest.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/keeping_someone_honest. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.