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bona fide

or bona-fide

[boh-nuh fahyd, bon-uh; boh-nuh fahy-dee]
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adjective
  1. made, done, presented, etc., in good faith; without deception or fraud: a bona fide statement of intent to sell.
  2. authentic; true: a bona fide sample of Lincoln's handwriting.
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Origin of bona fide

First recorded in 1935–45, bona fide is from the Latin word bonā fidē
Can be confusedbona fide bona fides (see usage note at bona fides)

Synonyms

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1. honest, sincere; lawful, legal. 2. genuine.

Antonyms

spurious, deceitful, false.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for bona fide

Historical Examples

  • Sometimes they were written by an immigrant, a bona-fide worker.

    Working With the Working Woman

    Cornelia Stratton Parker

  • Had it been a trick of his senses or a bona-fide apparition?

  • I think what he meant was that he'd like it to look like a bona-fide, voluntary sale.

    Otherwise Phyllis

    Meredith Nicholson

  • Why should not a bona-fide brother go to see his only sister?

  • Here at last was a bona-fide lower-berther who might be induced to enlighten me.

    The Affable Stranger

    Peter McArthur

British Dictionary definitions for bona fide

bona fide

adjective (ˈbəʊnə ˈfaɪdɪ)
  1. real or genuinea bona fide manuscript
  2. undertaken in good faitha bona fide agreement
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noun (ˈbɔːnə fɑɪd)
  1. Irish informal a public house licensed to remain open after normal hours to serve bona fide travellers
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Word Origin

C16: from Latin
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

Word Origin and History for bona fide

1540s, Latin, literally "in good faith," ablative of bona fides "good faith" (see faith). Originally used as an adverb, later (18c.) also as an adjective. The opposite is mala fide.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
bona fide in Culture

bona fide

[(boh-nuh feyed, boh-nuh feye-dee, bon-uh feyed)]

Genuine: “The offer was a bona fide business opportunity: they really meant to carry it through.” From Latin, meaning “in good faith.”

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The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.