bona fide

or bona-fide

[ boh-nuh-fahyd, bon-uh; boh-nuh-fahy-dee ]
See synonyms for bona fide on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. made, done, presented, etc., in good faith; without deception or fraud: a bona fide statement of intent to sell.

  2. authentic; true: a bona fide sample of Lincoln's handwriting.

Origin of bona fide

1
First recorded in 1535–45; from Latin bonā fidē “in good faith, with good faith,” ablative singular of (nominative singular) bona fidēs; see also bona fides

usage note For bona fide

Other words for bona fide

Opposites for bona fide

Words that may be confused with bona fide

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use bona fide in a sentence

  • It was evidently a voodoo ceremony they were enacting, and I knew it could not be complete—if bonafide—without the snake.

    The Voodoo Gold Trail | Walter Walden
  • It is really too bad that they don't exist as objective, bonafide compilations of the elder and darker Lore!

    The Fantasy Fan November 1933 | Charles D. Hornig

British Dictionary definitions for bona fide

bona fide

adjective(ˈbəʊnə ˈfaɪdɪ)
  1. real or genuine: a bona fide manuscript

  2. undertaken in good faith: a bona fide agreement

noun(ˈbɔːnə fɑɪd)
  1. Irish informal a public house licensed to remain open after normal hours to serve bona fide travellers

Origin of bona fide

1
C16: from Latin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for bona fide

bona fide

[ (boh-nuh feyed, boh-nuh feye-dee, bon-uh feyed) ]


Genuine: “The offer was a bona fide business opportunity: they really meant to carry it through.” From Latin, meaning “in good faith.”

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.