Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

honest to goodness

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.03 in modern English

Syllables: hon-est -to -good-ness
IPA

21

Scrabble Score

16

Letters

5

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

adv

Honest; truly, really; used to emphasize that a statement is true.

adj

Alternative form of honest-to-goodness.

Inflected Forms

more honest to goodness (comparative) most honest to goodness (superlative)

Questions

What does honest to goodness mean?: Honest; truly, really; used to emphasize that a statement is true.

How to pronounce honest to goodness

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “honest to goodness”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “honest to goodness”.
Repeat and practice — Say “honest to goodness” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.