How to say “honest” in 32 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.
It is commonest in Armenian, where ազնիվ is the 132nd most used word.
- Afrikaans eerlik #695
- Albanian sinqertë honest, sincere #1,015
- Armenian ազնիվ honest, honest-minded #132
- Bengali সৎ #894
- Bosnian iskren sincere, honest #1,250
- Bulgarian честен #1,344
- Chinese 坦白 honest; frank; candid; straightforward #1,017
- Croatian iskren sincere, honest #1,251
- Danish ærligt #804
- Dutch eerlijk #503
- English frank Honest, especially in a manner that seems… #798
- Esperanto honesta #2,374
- Estonian aus #642
- Finnish rehellinen #1,829
- French honnête #1,251
- German ehrlich honest, truthful, true #582
- Hindi ईमानदार honest, true, trustworthy #1,727
- Hungarian őszinte honest, frank, sincere #1,018
- Icelandic hreinskilinn frank, forthright, honest #1,448
- Indonesian jujur honest, truthful #631
- Latvian atklāts open, honest, frank, sincere #2,015
- Lithuanian teisus fair, honest #290
- Macedonian искрен honest, sincere, straightforward, genuine,… #1,049
- Malay jujur honest, truthful #757
- Norwegian ærlig #662
- Portuguese honesto #2,151
- Serbian iskren sincere, honest #1,248
- Slovak pravdupovediac truth be told, to be honest, actually #2,441
- Spanish honesto #2,305
- Swedish ärlig honest; scrupulous #1,306
- Turkish dürüst #678
- Urdu سچا truthful, honest #1,363
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.