aboveboard

adjective

Definition of aboveboardnext
as in honest
straightforward in manner The committee tried to be fair and aboveboard in its hiring. an aboveboard and responsible proposal

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of aboveboard 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 This means that when AI gives you an answer that the AI portrays for example as fully aboveboard and hunky-dory, the reality is that the response is bound to be a lot shakier than you are being led to believe. — Lance Eliot, Forbes, 5 Nov. 2024 Compared with the deceptive practices Russia employs in countries like Kenya and Nepal, Ukraine’s recruitment of Colombian fighters appears to be largely aboveboard. — Manuel Rueda, Christian Science Monitor, 5 May 2026 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 See All Example Sentences for aboveboard
Recent Examples of Synonyms for aboveboard
  1. honest
  2. reliable
  3. trustworthy
  4. dependable
Adjective
  • Refine a portfolio piece, build a small prototype, or share a draft with someone who gives honest notes.
    — Tarot.com, Baltimore Sun, 5 July 2026
  • County officials have repeatedly warned that fraudulent claims take money away from public services and shift the tax burden to honest taxpayers.
    — Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 5 July 2026
Definition of honest
Adjective
  • Andrews, a lifelong resident of Red Hook Houses West, said the community has waited long enough for a reliable pool.
    — Hannah Kliger, CBS News, 2 July 2026
  • No reliable figures are available for battlefield casualties in the war.
    — Hanna Arhirova, Los Angeles Times, 2 July 2026
Definition of reliable
Adjective
  • When a user, expecting to install a trustworthy clipboard manager, encounters the disk image, they’re prompted to press Command-R immediately after double-clicking it.
    — Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 2 July 2026
  • The New Playbook For Effective, Trustworthy AI ​ GenAI decisions that are hallucination-free and fully auditable are the key to AI that is trustworthy and can pass regulatory scrutiny.
    — Scott Zoldi, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026
Definition of trustworthy
Adjective
  • Like its patrons’ routines, The Silver Skillet is dependable.
    — Alana Al-Hatlani, Southern Living, 1 July 2026
  • The dependable measure of how much invasive disease has grown is the 60 percent that blood shows, not the headline doubling.
    — John Drake, Forbes.com, 30 June 2026
Definition of dependable

Browse Nearby Words

above
aboveboard
aboveground
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Aboveboard.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/aboveboard. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on aboveboard

Nglish: Translation of aboveboard 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!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of gambol

See Definitions and Examples »

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