bonny
adjective
pleasing to the eye; handsome; pretty.
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bonny
American
[bon-ee]
/ ˈbɒn i /
Or
bonnie
adjective
bonnier,
bonniest
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Chiefly Scot. pleasing to the eye; handsome; pretty.
-
British Dialect.
-
(of people) healthy, sweet, and lively.
-
(of places) placid; tranquil.
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pleasing; agreeable; good.
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adverb
noun
bonny
1
British
/ ˈbɒnɪ /
adjective
-
dialect beautiful or handsome
a bonny lass
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merry or lively
a bonny family
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good or fine
a bonny house
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(esp of babies) plump
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dialect considerable; to be reckoned with
cost a bonny penny
adverb
Bonny
2
British
/ ˈbɒnɪ /
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of bonny
1425–75; late Middle English ( Scots ) bonie, perhaps < Old French bon good + -ie -y 1, perhaps by analogy with jolie jolly
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 TV star wrote on Instagram he had had a "bit of a prang" but insisted things were "all nice and bonny".
From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2020
A bonny place, in the local argot, it’s also the birthplace of Donald Trump’s mother, Mary Anne MacLeod.
From New York Times ● Oct. 16, 2018
“It’s bonny, happy, chirpy, fun,” director Richmond says of the score, noting that it’s hardly what audiences will expect the witches to sing.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 5, 2018
Basically, Claire pulls the 18th century equivalent of a #yesallwomen campaign, and celebrates her victory by standing on a buttress and smiling vacantly at some wee bonny children.
From Time ● Aug. 16, 2014
“Not at all—it bears the most gracious message in the world: for the rest, you are not my conscience-keeper, so don’t make yourself uneasy. Here, come in, bonny wanderer!”
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
In light of the administration’s security strategy, the sale shows “its actions are aligning with its words,” said Bonny Lin, director of the China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 19, 2025
Inter coach Cristian Chivu started with Lautaro Martinez and Ange-Yoan Bonny up front, benching Marcus Thuram after Sunday's disappointing derby defeat by AC Milan.
From Barron's ● Nov. 26, 2025
Calvert makes pottery with her daughter, Nancy Lingemann, and son-in-law, John Lingemann, on May 27, 2025, in Bonny Doon, Calif.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2025
"If I wasn't helping with Harry, I would have Bonny with me," she said.
From BBC ● May 26, 2025
A band began playing “That Bonny Blue Flag,” in Lee’s honor.
From "The Killer Angels: The Classic Novel of the Civil War" by Michael Shaara
While some of his ban mots may have grown bonnier in telling, and others may be wholly apocryphal, who can say for sure?
From Time Magazine Archive
“Not a bit, and you never will. You’ve grown bigger and bonnier, but you are the same scapegrace as ever.”
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
Well, checked cloth is bonnier than black broadcloth to some people.
From An Orkney Maid by Barr, Amelia Edith Huddleston
“But look me fairly in the face; am I not bonnier than she?”
From The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 11 (of 25) by Stevenson, Robert Louis
Some of them said she was bigger and bonnier, but she was blithe and friendly and “a’e fauld” still—and London hadna spoiled her as it might very easily have done.
From The Twa Miss Dawsons by Robertson, Margaret M. (Margaret Murray)
The prams of Britain are filled with the bonniest babies in living memory.
From Time Magazine Archive
So he suggested a cat instead, “the bonniest little cat ye ever did see.”
From "The Old Willis Place" by Mary Downing Hahn
No, bonniest," answered he; "I deny that; I am nae flatterer.
From Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland Volume 7 by Various
“The first thing I did was to fall aff the flower-pot; but syne I came to, and says I, wi’ a polite smirk, ‘I’m thinking your leddyship,’ says I, ‘as you’re the bonniest yourself.’
From The Little Minister by Barrie, J. M. (James Matthew)
“I’m no meaning,” Nanny continued hurriedly, fearing to offend her benefactress, “but what you’re the bonniest tid I ever saw out o’ an almanack.
From The Little Minister by Barrie, J. M. (James Matthew)
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.
