Word.ws English Dictionary

bonnet ripper

bonnet ripper noun: a work in a subgenre of Christian romance fiction, which presents chaste courtship (typified by the removal of a bonnet) while avoiding explicit sexual content, and typically focuses on a woman from a traditionalist community (e.g., the Amish).

Noun

bonnet ripper (plural bonnet rippers)

  1. A work in a subgenre of Christian romance fiction, which presents chaste courtship (typified by the removal of a bonnet) while avoiding explicit sexual content, and typically focuses on a woman from a traditionalist community (e.g., the Amish).
    • […] or you're reading a bonnet ripper about Jebediah the Amish farmer casting his steely gaze at Abigail the spinster, […]2018, “How to Be a Perfect Christian: Your Comprehensive Guide to Flawless Spiritual Living”, in The Babylon Bee, Crown Publishing Group
    • The bonnet-ripper usually features a female protagonist who comes from an Amish or Mennonite background.2017, Bernice M. Murphy, Key Concepts in Contemporary Popular Fiction, Edinburgh University Press

Forms of bonnet ripper

pluralbonnet rippers
alternative formbonnet-ripper

Origin of bonnet ripper

Blend of bonnet + bodice ripper, referencing the traditional head coverings of Amish women.

Questions about bonnet ripper

What does bonnet ripper mean?
Bonnet ripper means a work in a subgenre of Christian romance fiction, which presents chaste courtship (typified by the removal of a bonnet) while avoiding explicit sexual content, and typically focuses on a woman from a traditionalist community (e.g., the Amish).
What part of speech is bonnet ripper?
Bonnet ripper is a noun.
What is the plural of bonnet ripper?
The plural of bonnet ripper is bonnet rippers.

Words near bonnet ripper in the dictionary

  1. bonnet macaques
  2. bonnet monkey
  3. bonnet monkeys
  4. bonnet piece
  5. bonnet pieces
  6. bonnet ripper
  7. bonnet rippers
  8. bonnet skewer
  9. bonnet skewers
  10. bonnet snail
  11. bonnet snails

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: bonnet ripper (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-bonnet-ripper.ogg.

Cite this entry: “bonnet ripper.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/bonnet_ripper. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.