bonhomie

English

WOTD – 16 January 2022

Etymology

PIE word
*dʰéǵʰōm

Borrowed from French bonhomie, bonhommie (“good-heartedness; extreme credulity”), from bonhomme (“chap, fellow; courageous man; peasant; unwise man who allows himself to be deceived and dominated”) (from bon (“good”) + homme (“man”)) + -ie (suffix forming feminine, usually abstract, nouns).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈbɒnəmiː/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈbɑnəmi/, /ˌbɑnəˈmi/, /ˌboʊ-/
• Hyphenation: bon‧hom‧ie

Noun

bonhomie (usually uncountable, plural bonhomies)

1. (uncountable) A friendly, good-natured, pleasant manner; an affable and approachable disposition; friendliness.

   Synonyms: affability, geniality; see also Thesaurus:friendliness

   Antonyms: hostility, unfriendliness

   • 1849, Washington Irving, chapter XIV, in Life of Oliver Goldsmith, revised edition, Chicago, Ill.: Belford-Clarke Co., →OCLC, page 106:

     His ungainly person and awkward manners were against him with men accustomed to the graces of society, and he was not sufficiently at home to give play to his humor and to that bonhomie which won the hearts of all who knew him.

   • 2019 August 15, Bob Stanley, “‘Groovy, groovy, groovy’: listening to Woodstock 50 years on – all 38 discs”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎^[1], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 11 January 2022:

     [T]he unknown Arlo Guthrie takes the stage, ending up in the movie, and – through sheer bonhomie – selling a million copies of Alice's Restaurant.

2. (uncountable) An atmosphere of friendliness and good cheer.

   Synonyms: conviviality, (Ireland, Northern England) craic, warmth

3. (countable) A cheerful remark.

Derived terms

• bonhomous

Translations

friendly, good-natured, pleasant manner — see also friendliness

• Dutch: hartelijkheid (nl), jovialiteit (nl)
• French: bonhomie (fr) f
• Georgian: გულკეთილობა (gulḳetiloba)
• Italian: bonomia (it) f
• Portuguese: simpatia (pt)
• Romanian: bonomie (ro) f
• Spanish: bonhomía f, amigable (es) m

atmosphere of friendliness and good cheer

• Romanian: bună dispoziție f
• Spanish: cordial (es) m