Honourable Meaning
/ˈɑnərəbəl/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjStandard spelling of honorable.
adjAlternative letter-case form of honourable.
Sentence Examples
Commanders are not simple commoners but honourable directors of this war.
Aoga receives an honourable mention at the Kodansha Award for New Writers of Children’s Literature.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ knight was known for his great loyalty and bravery.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
They made an ____ agreement to resolve their differences and work together in peace.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English honourable, from Old French honorable, honurable, from Latin honōrābilis, from honōrō (“to honour”); cognate with Italian onorabile, Spanish honorable. By surface analysis, honour + -able. In this sense, largely displaced Old English ārfæst.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"It was aptly said by Newton that "whatever is not deduced from facts must be regarded as hypothesis," but hypothesis appears to us a title too honourable for the crude guessings to which we allude."
— 1846, George Luxford, Edward Newman, The Phytologist: a popular botanical miscellany: Volume 2, Part 2, page 474:
"The days of steam on the railways of Kent are now indeed numbered, and when stage two of the electrification is completed through Tonbridge to Ashford, Folkestone and Dover a long and honourable chapter in transport will be virtually closed."
— 1959 October 26, O. S. Nock, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, pages 705, 724:
"So she invites her father and sister to a second day's dinner (if those sides, or ontrys, as she calls 'em, weren't served yesterday, I'm d—d), and to meet City folks and littery men, and keeps the Earls and the Ladies, and the Honourables to herself."
— 1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ knight was known for his great loyalty and bravery.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
They made an ____ agreement to resolve their differences and work together in peace.