uczciw

Uczciw is an archaic or dialectal form of the Polish adjective uczciwy, meaning honest, fair, or upright. In modern standard Polish, the common form is uczciwy for the masculine singular, uczciwa for feminine, and uczciwe for neuter. Uczciw appears primarily in historical texts, older orthography, or regional speech, and it is not used in contemporary standard writing.

Etymology and relations: Uczciw is related to the same semantic field as uczciwy and the noun uczciwość, which denote honesty, integrity, and fairness. The noun form uczciwość denotes the quality of being honest. The adjective uczciwy conveys moral integrity and reliability, while nieuczciwy denotes dishonesty.

Usage and register: Today, uczciw is generally encountered only in literary, philological, or dialect studies. It may be cited to illustrate older language stages or regional pronunciation, but it is considered nonstandard in everyday Polish. In modern texts, writers replace it with uczciwy to maintain standard language norms.

Semantics: The term shares its core meaning with synonyms such as prawy, rzetelny, and solidny, emphasizing trustworthy and morally upright behavior. The antonym is nieuczciwy, describing someone who is dishonest or unfair.

Examples and notes: Because uczciw is not part of contemporary standard Polish, there are few if any up-to-date examples. When encountered, it usually appears in discussion of older literature, linguistic variation, or dialectal speech rather than in current usage. For current writing, prefer uczciwy and its derived forms.