sonny
noun
little son (often used as a familiar term of address to a boy).
sonny
1 American
[suhn-ee]
/ ˈsʌn i /
noun
-
sonnies
plural
-
little son (often used as a familiar term of address to a boy).
-
(used as a term of direct address to express contempt, derision, etc.).
No, sonny, you can't park there!
Sonny
2
American
[suhn-ee]
/ ˈsʌn i /
noun
sonny
British
/ ˈsʌnɪ /
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of sonny
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:
“So I say, ‘Well sonny boy, when I came to Mexico, you were this high, and I was cooking with your grandmothers.’
From Los Angeles Times ● May 21, 2020
“Come, sonny boy!” he heard her whisper, and with a smile he let go.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 17, 2016
Sony was meant to appeal to Americans--a nod to "sonny boy," which was a phrase that was popular in Japan during the 1950s.
From Inc ● Mar. 24, 2010
You'll have to wait until half-time for that sonny!
From BBC ● Jan. 28, 2010
It doesn’t matter. 7TH JUROR: Look, sonny, nobody around here’s gonna tell me what words I understand and what words I don’t.
From "Twelve Angry Men" by Reginald Rose
JapanLA is still selling thousands of Sonny Angel dolls, but bids now tend to stay around $20.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
Jackie Bonheim, a spokesperson for Dreams USA, said that while the company received a flood of form-letter emails from angry Sonny Angel fans, the company cannot set a maximum retail price.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
Collectibles have become a major trend of social-driven e-commerce, with everything from Sonny Angels to Smiskis to Monchichis to Labubus all having their moment in the TikTok Shop sun.
From Slate ● Aug. 31, 2026
Tongue removed both Marsh and Crawley before he combined with Sonny Baker to tear through the middle order, the latter finishing with 2-39, while Sunrisers opener Ryan Rickelton was left stranded on 54 not out.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
Sonny has to talk to one of his teachers before class, so he goes off toward the visual arts wing.
From "On the Come Up" by Angie Thomas
“Rot me, my sonnies, then, if I can tell what a man is from all his members put together, oftentimes.”
From Under the Greenwood Tree, or, the Mellstock quire; a rural painting of the Dutch school by Thomas Hardy
Now stand stock-still there, my sonnies, one and all!
From Under the Greenwood Tree, or, the Mellstock quire; a rural painting of the Dutch school by Thomas Hardy
He says this, sonnies, loud and clear: 'Tell me this,' he says, 'how do they keep the crows off the wheat when you fellers comes to town?'
From The Soul of Susan Yellam by Horace Annesley Vachell
"You 'ear, sonnies?" remarked Bindle, turning to the passive six.
From Adventures of Bindle by Herbert George Jenkins
My sonnies, all true stories have a coarse touch or a bad moral, depend upon’t.
From Under the Greenwood Tree, or, the Mellstock quire; a rural painting of the Dutch school by Thomas Hardy
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.
