bon vivantnoun [ C ]
uk/ˌbɔ̃ːŋ viˈvɑ̃ːŋ/us/ˌbɑːn viːˈvɑːnt/plural bons vivants UK also bon viveur, uk/ˌbɔ̃ːŋ.vi.ˈvɜːr/us/ˌbɑːn.viːˈvɝː/plural bons viveursa person who enjoys good food and wines and likes going to restaurants and parties
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
People who enjoy pleasure
- beach bum
- clubber
- epicure
- gadabout
- good-time girl
- gourmand
- gourmet
- hedonism
- life
- party animal
- playboy
- raver
- revel
- sweet tooth
- sybarite
- the life and soul of the party idiom
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Foreign words & phrases used in English
Examples from literature
- In figure he was tall, with a tendency already manifested to put on flesh, good-looking, genial and sympathetic in manner, a bon vivant, passionately fond of dancing and society, an excellent talker or listener as the occasion demanded.
- In short, the cardinal was a man of wit, and what is called a bon vivant.
- The idea of the pangs of hunger and the sight of starvation and deprivation may have been the more repugnant to Colonel Grant since he was himself famous as a bon vivant and gourmet.
- The worthy man seems to have had the amiable infirmities of a bon vivant.