bonsoir
Americaninterjection
Usage
What does bonsoir mean? Bonsoir means good evening or good night. Bonsoir is borrowed directly from French, in which it means the same thing. Like many other expressions that have been borrowed from French (such as the more well-known bonjour, meaning “good day,” “good morning,” or simply “hello”), bonsoir is typically used in English to be a bit fancy or sound sophisticated. Example: Bonsoir, bon ami—until we meet again!
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.
I thought, ‘I will creep out at dead of night, when everyone’s asleep, and once on my petite bicyclette, bonsoir la compagnie.’
From The Joyous Adventures of Aristide Pujol by Alec Ball
"I have the honour to wish madame a bonsoir," said he, but the lady was still sulky and vouchsafed no answer.
From Crowded Out! and Other Sketches by S. Frances (Susie Frances) Harrison
It is, as I have indicated, the ladies who bid him bonsoir.
From The Mountebank by William John Locke
The "bonsoir, mon ami," of the first was frank and kind as usual, but I was immediately struck with a change in his manner.
From A Residence in France With an Excursion Up the Rhine, and a Second Visit to Switzerland by James Fenimore Cooper
Mr. Washburn took charge of the now very sleepy Delsarte, who declaimed a sepulchral bonsoir and disappeared, his redingote waving in the air.
From In the Courts of Memory, 1858 1875; from Contemporary Letters by L. de (Lillie de) Hegermann-Lindencrone
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
