bon ton
Americannoun
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good or elegant form or style.
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something regarded as fashionably correct.
The bon ton in this circle is to dress well and know influential people.
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fashionable society.
noun
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sophisticated manners or breeding
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fashionable society
Etymology
Origin of bon ton
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.
But then, the bon ton, not content with padding only bums, moved the bustle round to the tummy at the front.
From Slate ● Jul. 21, 2025
The book reports Lucius' ad ventures with "butlered bon ton."
From Time Magazine Archive
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Bullock's Wilshire, tony Los Angeles department store, went after war-workers' dollars; Macy's, New York's people's store, waved farewell to the bon ton trade.
From Time Magazine Archive
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This is being sur un assez bon ton for a player!
From Selected English Letters (XV - XIX Centuries) by Wragg, H.
Or, may be, in a frolic daft, To Hague or Calais takes a waft, To make a tour an' tak a whirl, To learn bon ton, an' see the worl'.
From Robert Burns by Shairp, John Campbell
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.