Word of the Day Archive
Saturday August 28, 2004
bon vivant \bon-vee-VONT\ , noun:
A person with refined and sociable tastes, especially one who enjoys fine food and drink.
For the unregenerate "peasant" (the term that he often used about his mother, whom he despised) had gone there with the successful glass distributor, shrewd investor, versatile talker, and . . . bon vivant whose motto was "The best is good enough for me."
-- Ted Solotaroff, Truth Comes in Blows
Girard is a bon vivant and intellectual while his son is a pragmatic city financier.
-- Akin Ojumu, "There's little and Lars", The Observer, May 25, 2003
Bon vivant comes from French bon, "good" (from Latin bonus) + vivant, present participle of vivre, "to live," from Latin vivere.
Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for bon vivant
