English Explanatory Dictionary

bon vivant

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A man who enjoys luxurious things in life, especially good food and drink; a man about town.

Pronunciation

/ˌbɑn vɪvˈɑnt/ /ˌbɑn viˈvɑnt/ /ˌbɔ̃ viˈvɑ̃/ /ˌbɒ̃ viːˈvɒ̃/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-bon vivant.wav

Word forms

bon vivant bon vivants bons vivants bon-vivant

Etymology

Borrowed from French bon vivant (literally “one who lives well, good ‘liver’ (living person)”), from bon (“good”) + vivant (“person who is living”), agent noun of vivre (“to live”).

Synonyms

bon viveur hedonist epicure epicurean high-stepper lapling lotus-eater pleasure seeker pleasurist sensualist softling sybarite voluptuarian voluptuary

Related words

joie de vivre bonne vivante boulevardier dandy man about town
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on B Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary