DISHONEST | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary
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English (UK)

Meaning of dishonest in English

dishonest
adjective
uk
/dɪˈsɒn.ɪst/ us
/dɪˈsɑː.nɪst/
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B2
not honest:
a dishonest lawyer
a dishonest way of making money
morally dishonest
intellectually dishonest
dishonest in/about He's been dishonest in his dealings with us/about his past.
Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples
deceiving others and not telling the truth
  • dishonestThe press called out the campaign's dishonest tactics.
  • untrustworthyHe made the mistake of basing his news story on an untrustworthy source.
  • deviousIt was a devious plan - but would it work?
  • deceitfulShe's deeply deceitful and not to be trusted.
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SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Dishonest
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Related words

dishonestly
dishonesty
(Definition of dishonest from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

dishonest | American Dictionary

dishonest
adjective
us
/dɪsˈɑn·əst/
Add to word list Add to word list
not honest:
He’s been dishonest with us, and I’ll never trust him again.

dishonesty

noun [ U ] us
/dɪsˈɑn·ə·sti/
(Definition of dishonest from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of dishonest

dishonest
A set of players, a constant fraction of which are dishonest, are trying to elect a common leader.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
More than 70 % of the respondents felt that most people were basically dishonest.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
They know that some of the informants may be forgetful, mistaken, dishonest, or motivated by a desire for publicity or even revenge.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
This more rigorous enforcement of social laws also helps address the problem of unreliable, dishonest or malicious agents operating in the open environment.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
For instance, to be untruthful to any degree in any context is dishonest.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Note, however, that a debt-for-nature swap that is marginally favourable to an honest government is always unfavourable to a dishonest one.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
They observed that 21 years later, advertising continues to use dishonest language as well as other sophisticated means to sell products and services.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Some "white lies" are not dishonest at all, and some would be borderline cases.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Secondly, when the pooling equilibrium in model 3 applies, also dishonest countries' behaviour is affected in the same way, by assumption.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Other things being equal, it makes sense to say that honest actions are morally 'superior' or 'better' than dishonest ones.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
From the outset, then, the army is presented in a negative light, and its representative, the recruiting sergeant, as dishonest.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
However, some jokes are dishonest, since they do not respect the very spirit of what they are alluding to, typically the allegory of the prisoners.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Claims of objectivity could be seen as a shallow and dishonest cloak for a political agenda.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
It also sought to present an alternative to ' traditional politicians ' seen as corrupt, clientelistic, and dishonest.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
The allegations received by the provveditori in 1619 provided uncommonly detailed descriptions of the ' dishonest acts ' which had occurred between priest and nuns.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.
What is the pronunciation of dishonest?
 

Translations of dishonest

in Chinese (Traditional)
不誠實的，不老實的，不正直的…
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in Chinese (Simplified)
不诚实的，不老实的，不正直的…
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in Spanish
deshonesto, fraudulento, deshonesto/esta [masculine-feminine]…
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in Portuguese
desonesto, desleal, desonesto/-ta [masculine-feminine]…
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in more languages
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अप्रामाणिक…
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不正直な, 不正直（ふしょうじき）な…
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sahtekâr, yalancı, düzenbaz…
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malhonnête, qui fait preuve de mauvaise foi…
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deshonest, fraudulent…
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oneerlijk…
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நேர்மையற்ற / நேர்மையில்லாத…
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बेईमान, कपटी, धूर्त…
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અપ્રમાણિક, કપટી, ધૂર્ત…
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uærlig, upålidelig…
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oärlig…
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tidak jujur…
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unehrlich…
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uærlig, løgnaktig, uhederlig…
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بے ایمان…
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нечесний, несумлінний…
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нечестный…
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నిజాయతి లేకుండా…
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غَيْر شَريف, غَشّاش…
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অসৎ…
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nepoctivý…
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tidak jujur…
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ไม่ซื่อสัตย์…
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không trung thực…
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nieuczciwy…
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부정직한…
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disonesto…
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