Meaning & use
bonny
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Meanings
adjectivecomparableScottishBritishinformal
Pleasant to look at in a healthy, fresh way, often said warmly about a child or a young woman.
Grammar: Can come before a noun (a bonny baby) or after a verb (she looks bonny).
Patterns
- a bonny baby
- a bonny lass
She was a bonny child with rosy cheeks.
The nurse said he was a bonny baby.
What a bonny view over the hills!
adjectivebefore a nounregionaldialect
Used in some northern dialects to mean good, fine or fairly large.
Grammar: A regional use, found in phrases such as a bonny sum.
Patterns
- a bonny sum
- a bonny fight
He won a bonny sum at the market.
That was a bonny fight on the pitch.
They live a bonny distance from the village.
Word forms
| comparative | bonnier |
|---|---|
| superlative | bonniest |
Common combinations
- bonny lass
- He sang about a bonny lass from Yorkshire.
- bonny baby
- The visitors cooed over the bonny baby.
- bonny banks
- The song mentions the bonny banks of Loch Lomond.
- look bonny
- You look bonny in that blue dress.
- bonny wee
- She was a bonny wee thing.
Synonyms and how they differ
- pretty
- Pretty is the general word and is understood everywhere, whereas bonny sounds warm and regional.
- attractive
- Attractive is neutral and formal, while bonny is affectionate and typically used for children and women.
- lovely
- Lovely describes anything pleasant, and bonny is narrower and focuses on healthy looks.
- fair
- Fair is an older, poetic word for beautiful and does not carry the healthy, cheerful sense of bonny.
Opposites
Word family
- bonnily adverb
- in a bonny way
- bonniness noun
- the quality of being bonny
- bonnie adjective
- an alternative spelling of bonny
Commonly confused: bonny or bony?
bonny vs bony
Bony means thin with bones showing, and is pronounced the same, but it has nothing to do with attractiveness.
Practice
In Scotland an old woman might say, 'What a ______ wee baby!' meaning the child looks healthy and sweet.
Choose one answer.
Bonny means attractive and healthy-looking; bony means thin, and bounty and boring do not fit.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “bonny”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.