bona fide

• bonâ fide (rare)
• bona fyde (obsolete)

Unadapted borrowing from Latin bonā fidē (“in good faith”).

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌbəʊ.nəˈfaɪ.di/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈboʊnə.faɪd/, /ˌboʊnəˈfaɪdi/, /ˈbɑnə.faɪd/, /ˈboʊnəˌfiːdeɪ/
• (Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈboʊnə.faɪd/

• Audio (US):

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• Audio (General Australian):

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The pronunciation /ˈboʊnə.faɪd/ is the most common one in the USA and therefore listed first in American dictionaries, incl. American Heritage, Merriam-Webster, Webster's Third New International Dictionary, and the American version of Collins.^[1]

bona fide (not comparable)

1. In good faith; genuinely, sincerely.

   Synonym: (nonstandard) bonafidely

   • 1761, [Laurence Sterne], chapter X, in The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, volume III, London: R and J Dodsley , →OCLC, pages 29–30:

     But by the knots I am speaking of, may it please your reverences to believe, that I mean good, honest, devilish tight, hard knots, made bona fide, as Obadiah made his; […]

   • 1791, Joseph Priestley, Letters to Burke, section XII:

     Let thinking people, then, judge what must be the fate of a church, whose fundamental doctrines are disbelieved by men of sense and inquiry, whose articles are well known not to be subscribed bonâ fide by those who officiate in it […] .

bona fide (not comparable)

1. In good faith; sincere; without deception or ulterior motive.

   Synonym: sincere

   Antonym: mala fide

   Although he failed, the prime minister made a bona fide attempt to repair the nation's damaged economy.

   • 1899, Thorstein Veblen, “Devout Observances”, in The Theory of the Leisure Class ‎, New York: Macmillan, →OCLC:

     It is impossible to say how far this adherence to a creed is a bona fide reversion to a devout habit of mind, and how far it is to be classed as a case of protective mimicry assumed for the purpose of an outward assimilation to canons of reputability borrowed from foreign ideals.

2. Genuine; not counterfeit.

   Synonyms: authentic, genuine

   Antonyms: bogus, counterfeit

   This is a bona fide Roman coin.

   • 1914 October – 1916 July, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Mucker, Chicago, Ill.: A C McClurg & Co., published 31 October 1921, →OCLC:

     To Billy Byrne, then, Pesita was a real general, and Billy, himself, a bona fide captain.

   • 1955 June 30, “Ersatzes for Ersatzes”, in The Christian Science Monitor‎, volume 47, number 182:

     What intrigues us is what will happen when the ersatzes for the ersatzes come along. Will characters start substituting for actors, bona fide dogs for barking ladies; will people start looking at people again instead of television and at nature instead of at documentaries?

   • 2000, Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, O Brother, Where Art Thou?‎:

     Ulysses Everett McGill: I am the only daddy you got! I’m the damn pater familias!
     Wharvey Gal: But you ain’t bona fide!

Sometimes misspelled as *bonafied, by incorrectly analyzing as the past participle of assumed *bonafy.^[2]

• bonafidely

• bona fides
• mala fide

Unadapted borrowing from Latin bonā fidē (“in good faith”).

• IPA^(key):

bona fide

1. bona fide (in good faith)

• “bona fide”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “bona fide”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989