without honor: held in low regard, stripped of the esteem or standing one might otherwise have
The word joins a negative prefix meaning "not" to the noun for honor, so at its root it names a person or thing left without honor. In the New Testament it is a social word, not a moral one: it describes where someone stands in other people's regard, not whether they have done anything wrong.
That is why its force can range from the strong sense of being openly despised to the milder sense of simply ranking lower. A prophet is treated with contempt in his own town (Matthew 13:57), and Paul calls the apostles dishonored while the Corinthians imagine themselves honored (1 Corinthians 4:10). But the same word, in its comparative form, can mean only "less honorable," as when Paul speaks of the parts of the body we rank beneath others (1 Corinthians 12:23).
Its whole meaning lives in contrast to honor. Ancient writers set it against ἔνδοξος, "held in glory," and the matching noun ἀτιμία names the disgrace itself. In a world where public honor was among the highest goods, to be called dishonored was to be pushed to the bottom of the social ladder, which is exactly the reversal Paul seizes on: he claims the low place for himself, and insists that the parts thought least honorable deserve the most honor.
Nuances
What Paul's "less honorable" (ἀτιμότερα) members refer to in the body metaphor of 1 Corinthians 12:22-26, and whether he subverts the surrounding Greco-Roman honor hierarchy or merely deploys the body-politic topos to teach mutual dependence.
- contestedThe "less honorable" and "unpresentable" members are a euphemism for the body's private parts; Paul reworks the ancient body-politic fable to stress the indispensability and mutual dependence of every member rather than to invert social status.; C. K. Barrett, The First Epistle to the Corinthians (BNTC); Hans Conzelmann, 1 Corinthians (Hermeneia)
- contestedThe "less honorable" members also map onto lower-status believers, and Paul deliberately reverses the honor hierarchy by assigning greater honor to those the community ranks lower.; Dale B. Martin, The Corinthian Body; Anthony C. Thiselton, The First Epistle to the Corinthians (NIGTC)