Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

honest-to-goodness

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: 4.03 in modern English

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

21

Scrabble Score

16

Letters

7

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

adv

Alternative form of honest to goodness.

Example Sentences

"Is the clam chowder made with honest-to-goodness clams?"
"[']I'm a real, slam-bang, honest-to-goodness, three-fisted humdinger. I'm a bona fide supraman.' 'Superman?' Clevinger cried. 'Superman?' 'Supraman,' Yossarian corrected."
"At first glance, Lincoln seemed caught in a time warp—a place of 1930s tourist cabins and Mom-and-Pop diners where one could get honest-to-goodness milk shakes, made in a blender with real ice cream."
"Captain Mark heard about it; and dropped in after school to commend his protege. "Young lady, that's the most honest-to-goodness useful thing I ever heard hail from a schoolroom!""

Inflected Forms

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

Phrases

real McCoy

Frequently Paired Words

real McCoy

Synonyms

honest-to-god sure-enough

Questions

What does honest-to-goodness mean?: Real; genuine.

How to pronounce honest-to-goodness

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