honor

honor n

1 glory, renown, *fame, celebrity, éclat, reputation, repute, notoriety

Analogous words: esteem, respect, *regard, admiration: reverence, veneration, worship, adoration (see under REVERE): prestige, credit, authority, *influence, weight

Antonyms: dishonor

Contrasted words: *disgrace, disrepute, shame, ignominy, infamy

2 Honor, homage, reverence, deference, obeisance all mean respect or esteem shown another as his due or claimed by him as a right.

Honor may apply to the recognition of one's title to great respect or esteem or to an expression or manifestation of such respect and esteem

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hold every good and conscientious man in high honor

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he declined the honor that was offered him

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they feel deeply the honor of belonging to the Senate, and the necessity of protecting the Senate against dishonorable men— New Republic

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Homage adds to honor implications of accompanying praise or tributes of esteem especially from those who owe allegiance or service

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all these are . . . thy gentle ministers, who come to pay thee homage, and acknowledge thee their Lord— Milton

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In its extended use the term carries a stronger implication of a worshipful attitude than honor carries

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to the poetry of Byron the world has ardently paid homage— Arnold

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"They say I'm handsome." "You're lovely, Bella!" She drank in his homage— Meredith

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Reverence (see also REVERENCE) implies profound respect mingled with love or devotion

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in general those parents have the most reverence who deserve it— Johnson

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it behooves those of us who cherish the past to study Alfred's life and works with a special reverence— Malone

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Deference implies such respect for the person or his position or such reverence for his personality or such honor for his years or achievements that one courteously yields or submits one's own judgment, opinion, or preference to his

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the arrangements for the flower show were altered out of deference to the wishes of the duchess

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a certain deference, not to say servility, to the heads of colleges is perhaps necessary to a physician that means to establish himself here— Gray

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looked like a great man . . . deriving dignity from a carriage which, while it indicated deference to the court, indicated also habitual self-possession and self-respect— Macaulay

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an attitude of hostility to aristocracy because it was aristocracy, was as incomprehensible to him as an attitude of deference— Galsworthy

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Obeisance implies a show of honor or reverence by some act or gesture (as bowing or kneeling) that indicates submission, humility, or acknowledgment of defeat

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the Spanish prince was welcomed ... by a goodly company of English lords, assembled to pay him their obeisance— Prescott

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Sometimes the term is used in place of one of the other words in this group to suggest abject humiliation on the part of the one who pays honor or reverence

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a throne to which conquered nations yielded obeisance— Steele

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continually making humble obeisance to supercilious superiors— Wier

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Analogous words: recognition, acknowledgment (see corresponding verbs at ACKNOWLEDGE): adulation, *compliment: tribute, panegyric, eulogy, *encomium

Contrasted words: contempt, disdain, scorn, despite (see under DESPISE)

2 *honesty, integrity, probity

Analogous words: uprightness, justness, honorableness, scrupulousness, conscientiousness (see corresponding adjectives at UPRIGHT): *truth, veracity: straightforwardness, forth- rightness (see corresponding adjectives at STRAIGHTFORWARD): rectitude, virtue (see GOODNESS)

honor vb *dignify, ennoble, glorify

Analogous words: *exalt, magnify, aggrandize: extol, laud, acclaim (see PRAISE): reverence, *revere, venerate