bona fide
adjective
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Bona fide means "in good faith" in Latin. When applied to business deals and the like, it stresses the absence of fraud or deception. A bona fide sale of securities is an entirely aboveboard transaction. Outside of business and law, bona fide implies mere sincerity and earnestness. A bona fide promise is one that the person has every intention of keeping. A bona fide proposal of marriage is one made by a suitor who isn't kidding around. Bona fide also has the noun form bona fides; when someone asks about someone else's bona fides, it usually means evidence of their qualifications or achievements.
Synonyms
- authentic
- certifiable
- certified
- dinkum [Australian & New Zealand]
- echt
- genuine
- honest
- pukka
- pucka
- real
- right
- sure-enough
- true
Example Sentences
Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 24 Aug. 2022 The coach and quarterback won the AFL championship together in 1962, their first year together, and became bona fide stars the following year, when club founder Lamar Hunt moved the team to Kansas City and rechristened it the Chiefs. Mark Heim | Mheim@al.com, al, 24 Aug. 2022 The coach and quarterback won the AFL championship together in 1962, their first year together, and became bona fide stars the following year, when club founder Lamar Hunt moved the team to Kansas City and rechristened it the Chiefs. Dave Skretta, Chicago Tribune, 24 Aug. 2022 The coach and quarterback won the AFL championship together in 1962, their first year together, and became bona fide stars the following year, when club founder Lamar Hunt moved the team to Kansas City and rechristened it the Chiefs. CBS News, 24 Aug. 2022 Of course there are grain- or bean-rich salads, populated with bona fide nutritious vegetables like kale and broccoli, that are genuinely nutritious and a fine choice. Tamar Haspel, Washington Post, 1 July 2022 For four decades, the weekly lunch with the president has been a key part of establishing successive vice presidents as bona fide players in their administrations. David Lautersenior Editor, Los Angeles Times, 13 May 2022 Whether or not this dry spell turns into a bona fide drought remains to be seen. Dave Epstein, BostonGlobe.com, 11 May 2022 When all is said and done, the bona fide movie star is expected to pocket at least $100 million from ticket sales, his salary and his eventual cut of home entertainment rentals and streaming revenue. Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 21 July 2022 See More Word History
Latin, literally, in good faith
1632, in the meaning defined at sense 3
Kids Definition
bona fide
adjective
Legal Definition
bona fide
adjective
bona fide
adjective
Synonyms & Similar Words
- authentic
- for real
- real
- true
- honest
- genuine
- original
- actual
- certified
- historical
- unmistakable
- right
- certifiable
- pure
- pucka
- very
- legitimate
- pukka
- identifiable
- legal
- dinkum
- lawful
- echt
- sure-enough
- validated
- accurate
- proven
- recognizable
- verifiable
- unquestionable
- irrefutable
- incontrovertible
- correct
- verified
- indisputable
- incontestable
- proper
- undeniable
- substantiated
- indubitable
- undoubted
- veritable
- unadulterated
- unalloyed
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- fake
- unreal
- artificial
- false
- mock
- synthetic
- pseudo
- phony
- bogus
- counterfeit
- spurious
- imitation
- simulated
- unnatural
- phoney
- sham
- manufactured
- supposititious
- unauthentic
- factitious
- misleading
- fabricated
- man-made
- deceptive
- suppositious
- concocted
- delusory
- delusive
Synonym Chooser
The words authentic and genuine are common synonyms of bona fide. While all three words mean "being actually and exactly what is claimed," bona fide implies good faith and sincerity of intention.
The meanings of authentic and bona fide largely overlap; however, authentic implies being fully trustworthy as according with fact; it can also stress painstaking or faithful imitation of an original.
The synonyms genuine and bona fide are sometimes interchangeable, but genuine implies actual character not counterfeited, imitated, or adulterated; it also connotes definite origin from a source.