bonhomie

noun

bon·ho·mie ˌbä-nə-ˈmē

ˌbō-

Synonyms of bonhomie next

: good-natured easy friendliness

an undying bonhomie radiated from her—

Jean Stafford

bonhomous

ˈbä-nə-məs

adjective

Did you know?

English speakers borrowed bonhomie from French, where the word was created from bonhomme, which means "good-natured man" and is itself a composite of two other French words: bon, meaning "good," and homme, meaning "man." That French compound traces to two Latin terms, bonus (meaning "good") and homo (meaning either "man" or "human being"). English speakers have warmly embraced bonhomie and its meaning, but we have also anglicized the pronunciation in a way that may make native French speakers cringe. (We hope they will be good-natured about it!)

Examples of bonhomie in a Sentence

the bonhomie of strangers singing together around a campfire

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

The relative bonhomie of the Obama administration, when the countries held wide-ranging talks on bilateral, regional, and global issues, is unlikely to return any time soon. —

Zhou Bo, Foreign Affairs, 13 May 2024 Some informal soccer even took place, now an iconic image of the bonhomie (although whether any games actually got going is disputed). —

Eli Wizevich, Smithsonian Magazine, 24 Dec. 2024 Set in the 1950s Midwest, Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams brought a winning, working-girl bonhomie to the bachelorette lifestyle — and put a mark on TV wardrobes with their signature sweaters bearing curlicue initials. —

Sara Netzley, EW.com, 21 Dec. 2024 And in place of executions and sermons that pepper many of their videos are bucolic scenes of bonhomie and carefree pleasures. —

Joshua Meservey, Foreign Affairs, 17 Dec. 2015 See all Example Sentences for bonhomie