How to Use aboveboard in a Sentence

aboveboard

adjective
  • The committee tried to be fair and aboveboard in its hiring.
  • She acted in a completely open and aboveboard way.
  • Those are just the aboveboard measures.
    — Vivian Salama, The Atlantic, 1 Mar. 2026
  • The only way to reach your goal is through hard work and being honest and aboveboard.
    — Jeraldine Saunders, The Mercury News, 13 May 2017
  • Starting this summer, the state could be able to identify all aboveboard cannabis.
    — Matt Allyn, Popular Mechanics, 15 May 2018
  • That means aboveboard teams are looking for players without breaking the rules.
    — Mike Hutton, chicagotribune.com, 28 Apr. 2018
  • That type of crime-solving approach would be an aboveboard use of self-driving cars as an aid in crimefighting.
    — Lance Eliot, Forbes, 12 June 2021
  • None of this is technically aboveboard, but these dirty little cheaters are the entire heart and soul of this show right now.
    — Kathleen Walsh, Vulture, 20 Jan. 2026
  • His defense lawyers maintained the transactions were all aboveboard.
    — Kim Chandler, Star Tribune, 11 Sep. 2020
  • All of my client’s business with the congressman or any other client has been legitimate and aboveboard.
    — Jeremy Roebuck, Philly.com, 25 Oct. 2017
  • Spur someone to constructive action by being direct and aboveboard.
    — Tribune Content Agency, oregonlive, 18 Aug. 2021
  • There were some obvious signs that these are not entirely aboveboard operations, though.
    — Sarah Zhang, The Atlantic, 23 Dec. 2025
  • Of course, quid pro quo arrangements are aboveboard when the President is asking for a favor on behalf of the people.
    — Neal Katyal and Sam Koppelman, Time, 7 Nov. 2019
  • Though the intentions are aboveboard, the result is dismal and, frankly, disappointing.
    — Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 16 Aug. 2025
  • This is handy because the AI will not hold back if the therapist insists that the AI be aboveboard and blunt.
    — Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 19 Sep. 2025
  • For many Democrats and environmental groups, Zinke’s aboveboard actions are just as alarming.
    — Umair Irfan, Vox, 5 Nov. 2018
  • Surely, everything happening behind the scenes in the act of crafting self-driving cars is completely aboveboard and hunky-dory.
    — Lance Eliot, Forbes, 23 June 2021
  • But such operatives, who pursue their clients’ goals through a variety of methods—some entirely aboveboard, others less so—do exist.
    — Ben Widdicombe, Town & Country, 18 Jan. 2019
  • Spending cuts should be made in an aboveboard way, however, not by tripping up Americans with bureaucratic landmines.
    — Chicago Tribune, Twin Cities, 26 Dec. 2025
  • Now, with the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed to aboveboard maritime trade, the only vessels still moving are the ones that ignore the rules.
    — Charles Edward Gehrke, The Conversation, 10 Mar. 2026
  • Analysts said the prime minister needed to put the issue to rest and to reassure the public that Singapore’s government was fair-minded and aboveboard.
    — Richard C. Paddock, The Seattle Times, 4 July 2017
  • Many people suspect that not all of the president’s dealings with foreign creditors were aboveboard — including, by all appearances, the president himself.
    — Eric Levitz, Daily Intelligencer, 15 June 2018
  • Assume that self-driving cars will potentially be explicitly programmed with such a capability and are aiming to be used when the driving situation is aboveboard for the use of brake checking.
    — Lance Eliot, Forbes, 17 May 2021
  • While Moore and another Brady campaign aide have pleaded guilty, both Smukler and the congressman contend that the transaction was entirely aboveboard.
    — Jeremy Roebuck, Philly.com, 6 Feb. 2018
  • As documented in correspondence between the conspirators, all of this was enabled by aboveboard institutions.
    — Andrew Cockburn, Harper's Magazine, 27 Apr. 2020
  • Von Anhalt insists this work was aboveboard, but nevertheless quit after Germany tightened financial regulations in 1983.
    — Gary Baum, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 Mar. 2018
  • The sheriff’s office certainly knew that an enormous marijuana black market — orders of magnitude larger than its aboveboard counterpart — still thrived in California, despite legalization or maybe because of it.
    — Scott Eden, Rolling Stone, 1 Feb. 2026
  • Much of the compensation to athletes that used to come under the table — leading to NCAA infractions committee investigations and various forms of punishment when caught — will now be aboveboard.
    — Los Angeles Times, 30 Sep. 2019

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'aboveboard.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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