bonus
Americannoun
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bonuses
plural
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something given or paid over and above what is due.
- Synonyms:
- gift, honorarium, reward
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a sum of money granted or given to an employee, a returned soldier, etc., in addition to regular pay, usually in appreciation for work done, length of service, accumulated favors, etc.
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something free, as an extra dividend, given by a corporation to a purchaser of its securities.
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a premium paid for a loan, contract, etc.
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something extra or additional given freely.
Every purchaser of a pound of coffee received a box of cookies as a bonus.
noun
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something given, paid, or received above what is due or expected
a Christmas bonus for all employees
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an extra dividend allotted to shareholders out of profits
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insurance a dividend, esp a percentage of net profits, distributed to policyholders either annually or when the policy matures
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a slang word for a bribe
Synonym Usage
Bonus, bounty, premium refer to something extra beyond a stipulated payment. A bonus is a gift to reward performance, paid either by a private employer or by a government: a bonus based on salary; a soldiers' bonus. A bounty is a public aid or reward offered to stimulate interest in a specific purpose or undertaking and to encourage performance: a bounty for killing wolves. A premium is usually something additional given as an inducement to buy, produce, or the like: a premium received with a magazine subscription. See also present 2.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of bonus
1765–75; < Latin: good
Explanation
A bonus is something extra, a benefit beyond what is expected. If you get a bonus at work, it could be extra money or another type of reward for a job well done. A bonus is usually extra financial compensation that is above and beyond an employee's normal base salary or hourly wage. Some other types of employee bonuses are stock options, gift cards, or extra paid time off. But a bonus doesn't have to be related to work. It can be any extra benefit — like a rebate from an insurance company for making no claims in a year. Or it can be something as simple as a warm smile from your favorite teacher as she returns your essay with an A+ on the top.
Vocabulary lists containing bonus
Personal Finance and Financial Literacy - Introductory
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Personal Finance and Financial Literacy - High School
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Personal Finance and Financial Literacy - Middle School
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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:
For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David react to a New York Times list of 100 open scientific questions by coming up with some unanswered questions of their own.
From Slate ● Oct. 8, 2026
The agreement means around 78,000 employees from Samsung's 125,000-strong domestic workforce are eligible to receive a bonus of roughly $370,000 this year, based on a market estimate of profits.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
But in Taiwan on Wednesday, union representatives said hundreds of workers at a Micron plant had voted in favour of a strike, after talks with the US company over bonus reforms collapsed.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
The state now expects the bonus pool to grow, when it previously expected a decline year-over-year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
In addition to new Lady ’Stache Off with triple beauty action™, there’s also Lady 'Stache Off Organic with bonus buffing pad.
From "Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray
That could mean $3,500 less in bonuses for workers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
Samsung averted a strike in South Korea earlier this year by agreeing to a deal to distribute bonuses equivalent to 10.5 percent of operating profit to its semiconductor employees.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
He has introduced bonuses for drivers who can squeeze more mileage by reducing idling and driving more slowly.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
The amount required to sign the player is the most obvious, but there are also agents fees, legal expenses, administration money and potentially signing-on bonuses.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
He paid the Standard staff huge bonuses and asked them all to take a long leave.
From "Purple Hibiscus" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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.
