bonny

or bon·nie

[ bon-ee ]
See synonyms for bonny on Thesaurus.com
adjective,bon·ni·er, bon·ni·est.
  1. Chiefly Scot. pleasing to the eye; handsome; pretty.

  2. British Dialect.

    • (of people) healthy, sweet, and lively.

    • (of places) placid; tranquil.

    • pleasing; agreeable; good.

adverb
  1. British Dialect. pleasingly; agreeably; very well.

noun
  1. Scot. and North England Archaic. a pretty girl or young woman.

Origin of bonny

1
1425–75; late Middle English (Scots ) bonie, perhaps <Old French bon good + -ie-y1, perhaps by analogy with joliejolly

Other words from bonny

  • bon·ni·ly, adverb
  • bon·ni·ness, noun

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

How to use bonny in a sentence

  • Be Mama's good lassie and help her with all the opening day's work, and you yourself will be the bonniest there.

    The White Queen of Okoyong | W.P. Livingstone
  • A wild, wicked slip she was; but she had the bonniest eye, the sweetest smile, and the lightest foot in the parish.

    Emily Bront | A. Mary F. (Agnes Mary Frances) Robinson
  • No hot bread and fried stuff for them, and they are the biggest and bonniest lads of the lot.

    Eight Cousins | Louisa M. Alcott
  • It laid an egg after it was dead—the bonniest, brightest little blue egg that ever was seen.

  • Never flinch because a slip of a lass looks scornful at you out of the bonniest dark-blue eyes on earth.'

    The Story Girl | Lucy Maud Montgomery

British Dictionary definitions for bonny (1 of 2)

bonny

/ (ˈbɒnɪ) /


adjective-nier or -niest
  1. Scot and Northern English dialect beautiful or handsome: a bonny lass

  2. merry or lively: a bonny family

  1. good or fine: a bonny house

  2. (esp of babies) plump

  3. Scot and Northern English dialect considerable; to be reckoned with: cost a bonny penny

adverb
  1. informal agreeably or well: to speak bonny

Origin of bonny

1
C15: of uncertain origin; perhaps from Old French bon good, from Latin bonus

Derived forms of bonny

  • bonnily, adverb

British Dictionary definitions for Bonny (2 of 2)

Bonny

/ (ˈbɒnɪ) /


noun
  1. Bight of Bonny a wide bay at the E end of the Gulf of Guinea off the coasts of Nigeria and Cameroon: Former name (until 1975): Bight of Biafra

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