bon vivant
Americannoun
plural
bons vivantsnoun
Usage
What does bon vivant mean? A bon vivant is a person who enjoys living “the good life”—a connoisseur of food and drink and of the other things that go along with a life of leisure and luxury.Bon vivant comes from French, in which it’s used as an adjective that literally means “good living.”The term bon vivant is typically associated with the kind of sociable person who’s good at entertaining and can keep the party going with a good story. However, the term is sometimes used to suggest that such a person is overly indulgent.Sometimes, bon vivant is written with a hyphen, as bon-vivant.Example: The hostess was a charming bon vivant who made sure to keep the food coming and the music playing late into the evening.
Etymology
Origin of bon vivant
From French
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.
Cerf was fun and charismatic, a jokester and bon vivant.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 30, 2026
Later in the concert, the 56-year-old sang a medley of tunes by Peter Allen, the Australian songwriter and Manhattan bon vivant whom Jackman portrayed on Broadway in 2003 in “The Boy From Oz.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 8, 2025
Creating such stunning clothing is demanding work that has left Anne little time for anyone else, something Sevigny — a modern bon vivant if there ever was one — says felt true to her life.
From Salon • May 2, 2025
Swapping a beltway bon vivant for the so-called Prince of Darkness is, however, a risk.
From BBC • Feb. 8, 2025
In any case, practically overnight, Bobby turned himself from a dead stockbroker and incapacitated bon vivant into a live, if somewhat unqualified, agent-appraiser for a society of independent American art galleries and fine arts museums.
From "Nine Stories" by J. D. Salinger
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.
