How to say “honest” in 32 different languages
Every one of these is a word that turns up in ordinary speech, not a dictionary curiosity — the number beside it is where it ranks in that language.
- honesto/oˈnesto/ Spanish
- 坦白/tʰän²¹⁴⁻²¹ paɪ̯³⁵/ Chinese
- ईमानदार/iː.mɑːn.d̪ɑːɾ/ Hindi
- ազնիվ/ɑzˈniv/ Armenian
- সৎ/ʃɔt̪/ Bengali
“honest” in Spanish: honesto · French: honnête · German: ehrlich · Portuguese: honesto · Chinese: 坦白 · Hindi: ईमानदार · Turkish: dürüst
It is commonest in Armenian, where ազնիվ is the 132nd most used word.
Honest in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans eerlik/ˈiərlək/ #695
- Albanian sinqertë/siŋˈc͡ɕɛɾtə/ honest, sincere #1,015
- Armenian ազնիվ/ɑzˈniv/ honest, honest-minded #132
- Bengali সৎ/ʃɔt̪/ #894
- Bosnian iskren/îskren/ sincere, honest #1,250
- Bulgarian честен[ˈt͡ʃɛstɛn] #1,344
- Chinese 坦白/tʰän²¹⁴⁻²¹ paɪ̯³⁵/ honest; frank; candid; straightforward #1,017
- Croatian iskren/îskren/ sincere, honest #1,251
- Danish ærligt/ˈɛɐ̯lid/ #804
- Dutch eerlijk/ˈeːrlək/ #503
- English frank/fɹæŋk/ Honest, especially in a manner that seems… #798
- Esperanto honesta/hoˈnesta/ #2,374
- Estonian aus/ɑu̯s/ #642
- Finnish rehellinen/ˈrehelːinen/ #1,829
- French honnête/ɔ.nɛt/ #1,251
- German ehrlich/ˈeːrlɪç/ honest, truthful, true #582
- Hindi ईमानदार/iː.mɑːn.d̪ɑːɾ/ honest, true, trustworthy #1,727
- Hungarian őszinte[ˈøːsintɛ] honest, frank, sincere #1,018
- Icelandic hreinskilinn[ˈr̥ein.scɪːlɪn(ː)] frank, forthright, honest #1,448
- Indonesian jujur/ˈd͡ʒud͡ʒur/ honest, truthful #631
- Latvian atklāts/ˈatklaːts/ open, honest, frank, sincere #2,015
- Lithuanian teisus/tɛɪˈsʊs/ fair, honest #290
- Macedonian искрен[ˈiskrɛn] honest, sincere, straightforward, genuine,… #1,049
- Malay jujur/ˈd͡ʒud͡ʒur/ honest, truthful #757
- Norwegian ærlig/ˈæːɭɪ/ #662
- Portuguese honesto/oˈnɛs.tu/ #2,151
- Serbian iskren/îskren/ sincere, honest #1,248
- Slovak pravdupovediac/pravdupɔveɟɪ̯at͡s/ truth be told, to be honest, actually #2,441
- Spanish honesto/oˈnesto/ #2,305
- Swedish ärlig/²æːɭɪ(ɡ)/ honest; scrupulous #1,306
- Turkish dürüst/dyˈɾyst/ #678
- Urdu سچا/sət̪.t͡ʃɑː/ truthful, honest #1,363
The speaker reads the word in the voice the LangX app uses for that language — synthesised, not a recording of a native speaker, so treat it as a guide. A row without a button has no reading we are free to use, or none we trust, yet. Voices for Bengali (google (bn_BD), CC BY-SA 4.0) and Estonian (news (et_EE), CC BY 4.0).
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.