Word.ws English Dictionary

bonzer

/ˈbɒnzə/

bonzer adjective: remarkable; wonderful; excellent; terrific.

Adjective

bonzer (comparative more bonzer, superlative most bonzer)

  1. (Australia, New Zealand, informal) Remarkable; wonderful; excellent; terrific.
    • To see their faces brighten and to hear their 'Thanks Cobber, that was bonzer!' was a joy1915, Young Men's Christian Associations. International Committee, For the millions of men now under arms, volume 2
    • To all the earth she gives the soft glad-eye;
      She picks no fav′rits in this world o′ men;
      She peeps in nooks, where ′appy lovers sigh,
      To make their joy more bonzer still; an′ then,
      O′er Spadger′s Lane she waves a podgy ′and,
      An′ turns the scowlin′ slums to Fairyland.1916, C. J. Dennis, "In Spadger′s Lane", in The Moods of Ginger Mick, 2009, Sydney University Press, page 36

Noun

bonzer (plural bonzers)

  1. (Australia, New Zealand, informal, obsolete) An excellent person or thing.
    • King Ned is a "bonzer".1904 August 28, The Truth, Sydney, page 1, column 7
    Synonyms:
    bottler, ripper

bonzer meaning in Tamil

bonzer in Tamil

சிறந்த

Examples of bonzer in a sentence

  • ‘By jings, it’s bonzer fun; better’n motor-cars any day.’1936, Norman Lindsay, The Flyaway Highway, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 24:
  • You’ll make the bonzerest couple ever seen this side the Tropic.1938, Xavier Herbert, chapter XIII, in Capricornia, New York: D. Appleton-Century, published 1943, page 220:
  • By cripes, you couldn′t have a more bonzer place for doing the thing in style with girls.1945, Douglas Stewart, editor, Coast to Coast: Australian Stories 1945, page 51:
  • Inside sat one of the most bonzer sights she′d ever seen.1991, Noel Virtue, Always the Islands of Memory, page 148:

Synonyms of bonzer

Forms of bonzer

Adjective
comparativemore bonzer
superlativemost bonzer
alternative formboncer
alternative formbonza
Noun
pluralbonzers

Origin of bonzer

Entered use 1890s, origin unknown. In 2020 James Lambert reviewed previous theories, and supports derivation from: * boncer (“large marble”) < bouncer (“something prodigiously large”) Lambert also notes as not supported by evidence: * bonanza * French bon (“good”) * "more fanciful" suggestions: ** born star ** Japanese 万歳 (banzai, “long live..., huzzah, hurrah”) ** bonnie

Questions about bonzer

What does bonzer mean?
Bonzer means remarkable; wonderful; excellent; terrific.
What is bonzer in Tamil?
Bonzer in Tamil is சிறந்த. See Bonzer meaning in Tamil.
How do you use bonzer in a sentence?
‘By jings, it’s bonzer fun; better’n motor-cars any day.’
What part of speech is bonzer?
Bonzer can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce bonzer?
Bonzer is pronounced /ˈbɒnzə/.

Words near bonzer in the dictionary

  1. bonzas
  2. bonze
  3. bonzean
  4. bonzee
  5. bonzees
  6. bonzer
  7. bonzerest
  8. bonzers
  9. bonzes
  10. bonzidine
  11. bonzo

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: bonzer (page history and authors); bonzer (Tamil Wiktionary) (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-AU ck1 bonzer.ogg.

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