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Synonyms

bon vivant

American  
[bon vee-vahnt, bawn vee-vahn] / ˈbɒn viˈvɑnt, bɔ̃ viˈvɑ̃ /

noun

plural

bons vivants

  1. a person who lives luxuriously and enjoys good food and drink.

bon vivant British  
/ bɔ̃ vivɑ̃ /

noun

  1. Also called (but not in French): bon viveur.  a person who enjoys luxuries, esp good food and drink

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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

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.