bonanza
Americannoun
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bonanzas
plural
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a rich mass of ore, as found in mining.
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a source of great and sudden wealth or luck; a spectacular windfall.
The play proved to be a bonanza for its lucky backers.
noun
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a source, usually sudden and unexpected, of luck or wealth
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a mine or vein rich in ore
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of bonanza
An Americanism first recorded in 1835–45; from Spanish: “calm sea, prosperity, abundance of minerals,” nasalized variant of Medieval Latin bonacia, alteration (with influence from Latin bonus “good,” possibly to avoid confusion with malus “bad”) of Latin malacia “calm sea,” from Greek malakía “softness” ( malak(ós) “soft” + -ia -ia )
Explanation
An unexpected increase in tourism to a small town could be a bonanza for the locals. Bonanza means "a sudden opportunity to make money." Bonanza is a noun that means "a sudden rush of wealth or good fortune," but in a more scientific sense it means "a rich source of a precious metal." So, if you happen to strike gold in your backyard, that would be a bonanza on both fronts. "Boom towns" that sprung up during the California Gold Rush were created by a bonanza. More casually, bonanza can mean something like "a big to-do," or an extravaganza.
Vocabulary lists containing bonanza
The Omnivore's Dilemma
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Butterfly Yellow
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Killers of the Flower Moon
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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.
See Examples For:
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has proved a bonanza for Big Oil.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
It is set to start gathering data in five years, and by failing to back Jodrell Bank, the UK risks missing out on this scientific bonanza, according to Prof Philip Diamond.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
European banks may not receive quite the same impetus from mega IPOs and the AI capex bonanza as their U.S. counterparts but this is reflected in the significantly lower valuations attached to them.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026
It was turned into a cash bonanza for Focus Features, part of Hollywood studio Universal, which bought the distribution rights for $15 million at the Toronto Film Festival last year.
From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026
The passage of Prohibition had only compounded the territory’s feeling of lawlessness by encouraging organized crime and creating, in the words of one historian, “the greatest criminal bonanza in American history.”
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
Such offerings can be fee bonanzas for the teams of banks involved.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 11, 2026
The researchers suggest that these young eagles could be taking advantage of seasonal food bonanzas such as spawning salmon, nesting waterfowl, or carcasses of large mammals.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 11, 2025
Some merchants — a cheesemonger, a produce vendor, a baker — said that they had long counted local householders as their main customers, but that picnic-sized portions for tourists yielded cash bonanzas.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2024
It didn’t erase all that went sideways during the losses, or even prior victories that were goal-scoring bonanzas in which defensive play was abandoned.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 21, 2022
Many educated families from New England, disappointed in not finding the much talked of bonanzas, were living in log cabins, in solitary places, miles from any neighbors.
From Eighty Years and More; Reminiscences 1815-1897 by Stanton, Elizabeth Cady
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.
