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.
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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:
And Coach Kliff Kingsbury, the bonny prince plucked from Texas Tech in 2019, was scheduled to receive his comeuppance by now.
From New York Times ● Oct. 6, 2021
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
“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
Still, it was a June day to be blithe and bonny in.
From "The Wednesday Wars" by Gary D. Schmidt
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
Calvert walks with her daughter, Nancy Lingemann, on Lingemann’s property in Bonny Doon.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 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
“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 Robert Louis Stevenson
"O, sic a geek she gave her head, And sic a toss she gave her feather; Man, saw ye ne'er a bonnier lass Before, among the blooming heather?"
From The Redskins; or, Indian and Injin, Volume 1. Being the Conclusion of the Littlepage Manuscripts by James Fenimore Cooper
Ye couldna look better or bonnier though ye were to change your gown and tak’ an hour to do it.
From The Twa Miss Dawsons by Margaret M. (Margaret Murray) Robertson
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
Be Mama's good lassie and help her with all the opening day's work, and you yourself will be the bonniest there.
From The White Queen of Okoyong A True Story of Adventure Heroism and Faith by W.P. Livingstone
In ‘Young Peggy Blooms’ he describes her: Young Peggy blooms our bonniest lass, Her blush is like the morning, The rosy dawn, the springing grass With early gems adorning.
From The Real Robert Burns by J. L. Hughes
How! how!" answered the gaberlunzie, taking the pipes suddenly frae his mouth—"no let ye dance wi' a decent callant, the bonniest hensure o' the hail menyie!
From Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland Volume 4 by Various
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.
