Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Physically attractive or appealing; pretty.
- adjective Excellent.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Beautiful; fair or pleasant to look upon; pretty; fine.
- Gay; merry; frolicsome; cheerful; blithe.
- noun In mining, a mass of ore adjacent to a vein, but not distinctly connected with it; “a great collection of ore, without any vein coming into or going from it,” See
carbona .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Handsome; beautiful; pretty; attractively lively and graceful.
- adjective Gay; merry; frolicsome; cheerful; blithe.
- noun (Mining) A round and compact bed of ore, or a distinct bed, not communicating with a vein.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Geordie Alternative spelling of
bonnie . - noun mining A
round andcompact bed ofore , or a distinct bed, not communicating with avein .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective very pleasing to the eye
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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If she's clever compared with the rest of them then I pity our cousins in bonny Scotland.
Something is Rotten.... Newmania 2007
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See here is our ain bonny Charlie for a guard, and what better could an auld Jacobite wish for? said Kenneth, looking fondly on his wife; while their son marched past them in his Highland dress and wooden claymore by his side.
Sketches and Tales Illustrative of Life in the Backwoods of New Brunswick, North America Frederick 1845
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He wad mak a bonny corpse; I wad like to hae the streiking and winding
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'She used to be -- bonny, that is, as a button or a buckle micht be bonny.
Heather and Snow George MacDonald 1864
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That's the equivalent of my parents describing a girl as "bonny" when they meant she'd be better looking if she'd been hit in the face with a shovel.
Personally Speaking... juliette 2009
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"Eh, but ye wad mak a bonny munsie o 'me, Grannie, to hae me feart at the deil an' a '!
Warlock o' Glenwarlock George MacDonald 1864
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He wad mak a bonny corpse; I wad like to hae the streiking and winding o 'him. "
The Bride of Lammermoor Walter Scott 1801
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I am acquainted) -- equally joyous would Mr. Evans have been to have had the inspection of some of these 'bonny' songs.
Bibliomania; or Book-Madness A Bibliographical Romance Thomas Frognall Dibdin 1811
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An accurate, daguerrotyped portrait of a commonplace face: a carefully fenced, highly cultivated garden, with neat borders and delicate flowers: but no glance of a bright, vivid physiognomy, no open country, no fresh air, no blue hill, no bonny beck.
Nava Atlas: Based Upon the Book: An Interview with Charlotte Brontë Nava Atlas 2011
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An accurate, daguerrotyped portrait of a commonplace face: a carefully fenced, highly cultivated garden, with neat borders and delicate flowers: but no glance of a bright, vivid physiognomy, no open country, no fresh air, no blue hill, no bonny beck.
Nava Atlas: Based Upon the Book: An Interview with Charlotte Brontë Nava Atlas 2011
jeffazi commented on the word bonny
very pleasing to the eye (also "bonnie").
October 31, 2007
seanahan commented on the word bonny
I thought this was Irish, but it's actually Scottish, which I guess is pretty close. "Bonnie lass" is fairly common phrase in Celtic music.
October 31, 2007
hernesheir commented on the word bonny
A small quantity of anything. --Dr. Jamieson's Scottish Dictionary and Supplement, 1841.
May 9, 2011