Meanings
honorary1
alternative archaic honourary
- not comparableVoluntary.
- not comparableUnofficial; practically. Describes the holder of an unofficial position or title that is assigned as a special honor rather than by normal channels.
Megsie is an honorary employee because she helps other customers while she shops here.
1 more example
I consider you an honorary member of our family because you've been with us for so long.
plural honoraries · alternative archaic honourary
- A person who holds an honorary appointment.
- USA kind of secret society that operates in name only, with membership given to honor some achievement.
honorary2
plural honoraries · alternative archaic honourary
- An honorarium; a fee for services of no fixed value.
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectivegiven as an honor without the normal duties
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
honorary · adjective, noun
- Latinhonōrārius
- Englishhonorary
From honor + -ary, modelled after French honoraire, from Latin honōrārius.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →honorary · noun
- Latinhonōrārium
- Englishhonorary
From Latin honōrārium.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic فَخْرِيّ
- فَخْرِيّ (faḵriyy)given as an honor
Bulgarian почетен
- почетен (početen)given as an honor
Catalan honorari, honorari
- honorarigiven as an honor
- honoraridescribes the holder of a position
Czech čestný
- čestnýgiven as an honor
Dutch honorair
- honorairgiven as an honor
Finnish kunnia-, kunnia-
- kunnia-given as an honor
- kunnia-describes the holder of a position
French honoris causa
- honoris causagiven as an honor
German Ehren-, Ehren-
- Ehren-given as an honor
- Ehren-voluntary — see also voluntary
- ehrenamtlichvoluntary — see also voluntary
- Ehren-describes the holder of a position
Hindi आनरेरी, अवैतनिक
- आनरेरी (ānrerī)given as an honor
- अवैतनिक (avaitnik)given as an honor
- आनरेरी (ānrerī)describes the holder of a position
- अवैतनिक (avaitnik)describes the holder of a position
Hungarian címzetes, honoris causa
- címzetesgiven as an honor
- honoris causagiven as an honor
- tiszteletbelidescribes the holder of a position
- dísz-describes the holder of a position
Indonesian honorer
- honorergiven as an honor
Italian onorativo
- onorativogiven as an honor
Latin honōrārius
- honōrāriusgiven as an honor
Malay kehormat
- kehormatgiven as an honor
Norwegian Bokmål honorær
- honorærdescribes the holder of a position
Polish honorowy, nominalny
- honorowygiven as an honor
- nominalnygiven as an honor
- tytularnygiven as an honor
Portuguese honorário
- honoráriogiven as an honor
Russian почётный
- почётный (počótnyj)given as an honor
Spanish honorario
- honorariogiven as an honor
Swedish heders-
- heders-given as an honor
Turkish fahri
- fahrigiven as an honor
Ukrainian поче́сний
- поче́сний (počésnyj)given as an honor
Cite this entry
honorary. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/honorary
“honorary.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/honorary. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “honorary,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/honorary.
Source: honorary on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.