honorary

adjective

hon·​or·​ary ˈä-nə-ˌrer-ē How to pronounce honorary (audio)
Synonyms of honorary
1
a
: having or conferring distinction
an honorary engineering society
b
: commemorative
an honorary plaque
2
: dependent on honor or a keen sense of ethical conduct for fulfillment
an honorary obligation
3
a
: conferred or elected in recognition of achievement or service without the usual prerequisites or obligations
an honorary degree
an honorary member
b
: unpaid, voluntary
an honorary chairman
honorarily
ˌä-nə-ˈrer-ə-lē How to pronounce honorary (audio)
adverb
honorary noun

Synonyms of honorary

Relevance
See All Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus

Examples of honorary in a Sentence

He was awarded an honorary degree. He's an honorary member of the club. He is the honorary president of the commission.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Kate has been the base's royal honorary air commodore since 2023. — Kimi Robinson, USA Today, 29 June 2026 Glover earned four Emmy Award nominations and an honorary Oscar in 2022. — ABC News, 1 July 2026 New this year, two WNBA greats will serve as honorary general managers and select the two teams from the pool of All-Stars. — Mercury News, 2 July 2026 The following year, Carnegie Mellon welcomed Catlett to campus, awarding her with an honorary doctorate degree. — Chadd Scott, Forbes.com, 1 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for honorary

Word History

Etymology

Latin honorarius, from honor

First Known Use

1606, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of honorary was in 1606

Phrases Containing honorary

Rhymes for honorary

See All Rhymes for honorary

Browse Nearby Words

honorarium
honorary
honorary canon
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Honorary.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/honorary. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

Kids Definition

honorary

adjective
hon·​or·​ary ˈän-ə-ˌrer-ē How to pronounce honorary (audio)
1
: given or done as a sign of honor
an honorary degree
2
: voluntary entry 1 sense 1, unpaid
honorary president
honorarily
ˌän-ə-ˈrer-ə-lē How to pronounce honorary (audio)
adverb

More from Merriam-Webster on honorary

Nglish: Translation of honorary for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All