honorable

B2 Topic:Describing Qualities

Also spelled honourable

US /ˈɑn.ə.ɹəbl̩/ UK /ˈɒn.ə ɹəbl̩/ See IPA manual

Freq #6028

Meanings

1

adj
Deserving respect and praise.

Helping others without reward is an honorable thing to do.
2

adj
Behaving in a fair, moral, and trustworthy way.

He is too honorable to cheat anyone.
3

adj
Used as a formal title for certain officials, such as ministers or judges.

The Honorable Member of Parliament rose to speak.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · deserving respect and praise. honourableadmirable

2 adj · behaving in a fair, moral,... honest ethical

3 adj · used as a formal title for... hon.

Word family

Derived forms hon'blehonorableness honorablyhonourablehonourablyunhonorable

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

honorable mention
official recognition of an achievement that does not receive the main prize

Adjective + noun

Proverbs (1)

See all

Humility makes great men twice honorable

Etymology

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.

honourable Middle English honorable Old French honōrābilis Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Register & Style

External links

# honorable

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈɑn.ə.ɹəbl̩/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈɒn.ə ɹəbl̩/
**Frequency rank:** 6028

## Meanings
1. Deserving respect and praise.
2. Behaving in a fair, moral, and trustworthy way.
3. Used as a formal title for certain officials, such as ministers or judges.

## Examples
- Helping others without reward is an honorable thing to do.
- He is too honorable to cheat anyone.
- The Honorable Member of Parliament rose to speak.

## Derived Forms
- hon'ble
- honorableness
- honorably
- honourable
- honourably
- unhonorable

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: honourable
- Root: honorable
- Root: honōrābilis

## Etymology
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.

## AI Etymology
Honorable comes 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. The analysis is mainly morphological: the modern adjectival form is built from the named base and affix. In current use, the main senses are “Deserving respect and praise” and “Behaving in a fair, moral, and trustworthy way”.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Register & Style

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