What's the difference between honesty and probity?

Honesty


Definition:

  • (a.) Honor; honorableness; dignity; propriety; suitableness; decency.
  • (a.) The quality or state of being honest; probity; fairness and straightforwardness of conduct, speech, etc.; integrity; sincerity; truthfulness; freedom from fraud or guile.
  • (a.) Chastity; modesty.
  • (a.) Satin flower; the name of two cruciferous herbs having large flat pods, the round shining partitions of which are more beautiful than the blossom; -- called also lunary and moonwort. Lunaria biennis is common honesty; L. rediva is perennial honesty.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Trump and Hillary Clinton’s dismal honesty ratings, he says, show scrutiny is working.
  • (2) The authors conducted the course together and an atmosphere of intellectual honesty was developed through open discussion between faculty and students.
  • (3) Hunt’s comments were, in many senses, a restatement of traditional, economically liberal ideas on relationships between doing wage work and poverty relief, mirroring, for example, arguments of the 1834 poor law commissioners, which suggested wage supplements diminished the skills, honesty and diligence of the labourer, and the more recent claim of Iain Duncan Smith’s Centre for Social Justice that the earned pound was “superior” to that received in benefits.
  • (4) Also on Monday, rock musician and leading opponent of the cull Brian May issued a call for Paterson to resign, claiming he had failed to meet the public's expectation of "honesty and transparency".
  • (5) During a break between Detective Frost and Whitechapel, I decided to have a farewell glass of port in the honesty bar adjacent to the library.
  • (6) The battery assesses constructs related to honesty, violence, substance abuse, emotional stability and safety.
  • (7) (part 1 of 2) #mufc April 22, 2014 Manchester United (@ManUtd) BREAKING: The club would like to place on record its thanks for the hard work, honesty and integrity he brought to the role.
  • (8) The prayer appeals for “grace to debate the issues in this referendum with honesty and openness”.
  • (9) Hopefully these observations will help bring some honesty to the debate about alcohol, which kills up to 40,000 people a year in the UK and over 2.25 million worldwide in the latest 2011 WHO report .
  • (10) But for those Eurosceptics he needed to secure the party leadership, the realignment was an act of honesty and principle since the Tories oppose the Lisbon treaty and are utterly at odds with Europe's dominant Christian Democrats.
  • (11) An NHS trust's lack of honesty caused "unnecessary pain and further distress" to a family who had already suffered from the tragic and avoidable death of a baby boy, the health service ombudsman has said in the latest scathing verdict on the defensive culture within the health service.
  • (12) I am truly saddened by Dick’s decision but I respect him for his honesty and for doing what he feels is right for the club,” said Sunderland’s owner.
  • (13) The diplomats told Washington that certain themes in American movies seemed to appeal to the Saudi audience: heroic honesty in the face of corruption (George Clooney in Michael Clayton), supportive behaviour in relationships (an unspecified drama that was repeated during an Eid holiday featuring an American husband dealing with a drunk wife who smashed cars and crockery when she wasn't assaulting him and their child), and respect for the law over self-interest (Al Pacino and Robin Williams in Insomnia).
  • (14) It is necessary to face the problem with complete intellectual honesty and say that a fetus is a human being no matter what its age, but that voluntary abortion is also a social necessity.
  • (15) Envelopes stuffed with cash, it is claimed, were their reward for ensuring Blatter beat Lennart Johansson, the 'honesty' candidate, to become the soccer world's most powerful leader.
  • (16) Rather they are a plea for greater honesty in the evaluation process.
  • (17) Now that the book is published, does she regret such naked honesty?
  • (18) Today's verdict ‑ the striking-off of Wakefield and Prof John Walker-Smith, who was in charge of the department of paediatric gastroenterology at the Royal Free hospital in London, where the research took place and the acquittal of the-then junior consultant Simon Murch, who had doubts about the project ‑ was about ethics and honesty, not science.
  • (19) But the frailty of a three-minute song – the concise honesty of that expression – amazes me and turns me into a bucket of jealousy.
  • (20) The shadow chancellor said it "will come down to honesty versus dishonesty", as parties battle for votes ahead of the general election, which is expected to take place on 6 May.

Probity


Definition:

  • (n.) Tried virtue or integrity; approved moral excellence; honesty; rectitude; uprightness.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) The alleged conduct was not conduct that could adversely affect the probity of the exercise of an official function by a public official.
  • (2) Members of the board of the Food Standards Agency (FSA) have been ordered to declare any contact they have with its former chief executivefor two years following Tim Smith's controversial move to Tesco to ensure "proper governance and probity".
  • (3) The Biological Stain Commission-sponsored workshop was convened to address the following issues: a manufacturers' testing program for probity of commercial antibodies, development of a manual for performance criteria and quality control assurance procedures, standardization of package inserts, standardization of information provided in the Materials and Methods sections of publications, establishment of a reagent and procedure clearing house, study of the effects of different fixation regimes on tissue antigens, and investigation of the environmental conditions needed for antigen-antibody interaction.
  • (4) Douglas has always advocated new politics, probity, transparency – this is his public image.
  • (5) We will establish partnerships between different countries’ institutions and professions to help build a shared culture of honesty and probity.
  • (6) In the circumstances, you do have to marvel at that mulishly self-regarding "for any offence caused" – the classic non-apology apology typically proffered by those with a belief in their own absolute probity, which is as unshakeable as it is misplaced.
  • (7) This British bank has generally enjoyed a high reputation for probity (as these places go) until yesterday, when some New York regulator apparently denounced Standard as a 'rogue institution.'
  • (8) She has had her ­problems with the Tories, in particular over Boris Johnson's attempted ­appointment of former London Evening Standard editor Veronica ­Wadley to the chair of Arts Council London (a letter of Forgan's to Bradshaw, questioning the probity of the ­recruitment process, was leaked last year; there have been Tory mutterings that Forgan is too bound up with the Labour establishment).
  • (9) Looking into the Eds’ eyes, wavering voters do not spy the cutting zeal that reassures them of fiscal probity; but nor do they offer a genuine alternative to those fed up of Osborne’s botch job.
  • (10) If a leader can convince voters they will not back-slide in this way, then – with probity, empathy and practical balms for a country gripped by a sustained squeeze on living standards – they might still cut through.
  • (11) And, while the emphasis has mostly been on the probity of Mann's hockey stick, most researchers I have spoken to regard the M&M study as far more deeply flawed.
  • (12) "He had a complete loss of confidence when he described Jeffrey Archer as a man of probity and integrity – only for us to watch him go to jail.
  • (13) • Focus on technical skills as well as probity of approved persons.
  • (14) One energy industry analyst said the prospect of a $1bn government loan for Adani’s railway showed a lack of financier interest and raised probity questions, given public money would go to a private entity controlled by the Adani family through offshore tax havens.
  • (15) Manipulating the system, or indeed any unscrupulous behaviour, would have been unthinkable, Zombanakis says, because the system was based not only on the probity of men in bowler hats and pinstripe suits but on something more important still: an unwritten code of conduct inspired entirely by fair play.
  • (16) But I and my family - my father and my two uncles, although they've all gone now - have had an enduring reputation for probity, integrity and honesty," he added.
  • (17) To spread best practice, ensure probity and the equitable use of public funds, and to ensure transparency and accountability locally, we need a devolved schools system.
  • (18) If the party did much more of what it says on the tin, the doubts about honesty, trust and appeal would dissolve as its reputation would be enhanced by probity and authenticity.
  • (19) Ensuring the probity of the foreign exchange rates is “incredibly important” for the FX market and “fundamentally important” for the credibility of the Bank of England itself , Carney added.
  • (20) Bailey said the initiative to seek written promises of probity from editorial executives did not extend to former staff such as Morgan.