adjective
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suave and refined
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carefree; light-hearted
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courteous and cheerful; affable
Other Word Forms
- debonairly adverb
- debonairness noun
Etymology
Origin of debonair
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English debone(i)re, from Anglo-French; Old French debonaire; the original phrase was de bon aire “of good lineage”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Though he bridled against the genteel expectations of his upbringing, he was popular and effortlessly debonair.
As the movie goes on, it becomes apparent that she is present mainly because she wants to meet the debonair Rodgers.
In 1914, the “Duke of the Pike” — a debonair character who lived large, mostly on brash cheek and bad checks — finally got caught when his car broke down in Compton.
From Los Angeles Times
Vargas Llosa’s air of debonair intellectual only added to the package: a writer for the New Statesman once described him as “tall, good-looking and with the social graces of the Latin American elite.”
From Los Angeles Times
Manilow asked the crowd of the debonair record executive who helped shepherd him to stardom.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
