Word of the Day Archive
Tuesday December 21, 1999
bonhomie \bah-nuh-MEE\
, noun:
A good nature; pleasant and easy manner.
That bonhomie which won the hearts of all who knew him.
-- Washington Irving, Oliver Goldsmith
And what of the salesman's fabled bonhomie, the Willy Lomanesque emphasis on the importance of being liked?
-- "How to Manage Salespeople", Fortune, March 14, 1988
I would carefully study the exploits of positive role models like Peter Gabriel, Jimmy Carter, and Alec Baldwin, and attempt to emulate their radiant bonhomie.
-- Joe Queenan, My Goodness: A Cynic's Short-Lived Search for Sainthood
Bonhomie comes from French, from bonhomme, "good-natured man," from bon, "good" (from Latin bonus) + homme, "man" (from Latin homo).
Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for bonhomie
