Honesty
Etymology
From Latin "honestas" (honor, respectability, credit), from "honos/honor" (honor). Strikingly, honesty first meant honorableness or respectability in general — a person of "honesty" was of good standing — and only later narrowed to the specific virtue of truthfulness. The old sense lingers in phrases like "honest work."
noun · /ON-uh-stee/
Truthfulness in word and dealing — refusal to deceive, cheat, or steal.
What it names
Reach for it to name the plain refusal to lie or defraud, the baseline of trust between people.
Example
His honesty about the product’s limits lost one sale and won a decade of referrals.
Related idea
Candor is a sharper thing — volunteering unwelcome truths and holding nothing back — whereas honesty need only not deceive. One can be scrupulously honest yet tactfully silent; candor speaks up.