bonny
or bon·nie
Chiefly Scot. pleasing to the eye; handsome; pretty.
British Dialect.
(of people) healthy, sweet, and lively.
(of places) placid; tranquil.
pleasing; agreeable; good.
British Dialect. pleasingly; agreeably; very well.
Scot. and North England Archaic. a pretty girl or young woman.
Origin of bonny
1Other 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. LivingstoneA 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) RobinsonNo hot bread and fried stuff for them, and they are the biggest and bonniest lads of the lot.
Eight Cousins | Louisa M. AlcottIt laid an egg after it was dead—the bonniest, brightest little blue egg that ever was seen.
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes | A. Conan DoyleNever 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)
/ (ˈbɒnɪ) /
Scot and Northern English dialect beautiful or handsome: a bonny lass
merry or lively: a bonny family
good or fine: a bonny house
(esp of babies) plump
Scot and Northern English dialect considerable; to be reckoned with: cost a bonny penny
informal agreeably or well: to speak bonny
Origin of bonny
1Derived forms of bonny
- bonnily, adverb
British Dictionary definitions for Bonny (2 of 2)
/ (ˈbɒnɪ) /
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
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