bonus
Americannoun
plural
bonuses-
something given or paid over and above what is due.
- Synonyms:
- gift, honorarium, reward
-
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.
-
something free, as an extra dividend, given by a corporation to a purchaser of its securities.
-
a premium paid for a loan, contract, etc.
-
something extra or additional given freely.
Every purchaser of a pound of coffee received a box of cookies as a bonus.
noun
-
something given, paid, or received above what is due or expected
a Christmas bonus for all employees
-
an extra dividend allotted to shareholders out of profits
-
insurance a dividend, esp a percentage of net profits, distributed to policyholders either annually or when the policy matures
-
a slang word for a bribe
Related Words
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.
Etymology
Origin of bonus
1765–75; < Latin: good
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.
He said he earns about $65,000 a year, before bonus, as a research associate.
Russell banged over the conversion and, incredibly, the underdogs were ahead by 18 with a bonus point in the bank.
From BBC
"This is just a massive bonus to a good package that we already had, this is the icing on the cake," Weston told BBC Sport in 2025.
From BBC
He said he now predicts tax revenue from Wall Street bonuses and efforts to find savings in city programs will reduce the gap by $5 billion.
Messages from 2008 appeared to show Lord Mandelson - who was at the time business secretary in Gordon Brown's government - discussing Treasury plans for a one-off tax on bankers' bonuses with Epstein.
From BBC
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.
