Chiefly Scot. pleasing to the eye; handsome; pretty.
British Dialect.
(of people) healthy, sweet, and lively.
(of places) placid; tranquil.
pleasing; agreeable; good.
dialect beautiful or handsome
a bonny lass
merry or lively
a bonny family
good or fine
a bonny house
(esp of babies) plump
dialect considerable; to be reckoned with
cost a bonny penny
1425–75; late Middle English ( Scots ) bonie, perhaps < Old French bon good + -ie -y 1, perhaps by analogy with jolie jolly
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Federico Dimarco, Ange-Yoan Bonny and Henrikh Mkhitaryan rounded off the scoring in the final 10 minutes to secure Inter's ninth win in a 10-match unbeaten run in the league.
From Barron's • Jan. 23, 2026
In light of the administration’s security strategy, the sale shows “its actions are aligning with its words,” said Bonny Lin, director of the China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 19, 2025
Lee Calvert stands in the living room of her daughter’s home in Bonny Doon, Calif., in May 27.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 29, 2025
Captain Enrico Delprato, strikers Dennis Man, Valentin Mihaila, Adrian Benedyczak and brilliant playmaker Adrian Bernabe all arrived in 2021; all have extended the contracts they signed on arrival, as have Simon Sohm and Angel Bonny.
From BBC • Aug. 15, 2024
“Anne Bonny, Lady Killigrew, Grace O’Malley—to name only a few.”
From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
