bonhomie
/ˈbɑnəmi/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.84 in modern English
15
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A friendly, good-natured, pleasant manner; an affable and approachable disposition; friendliness.
Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "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."
- "[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."
- "While Mr. Romney was used to being the man in charge, as a former CEO, governor, and presidential nominee, Mr. Curtis has spent the last seven years in Congress quietly developing a reputation for bipartisan bonhomie."
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).
Origin
- Source language: French
Word Breakdown
- Root: bonhomie
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈbɑnəmi/
- British English: /ˈbɒnəmiː/