debonair

English

Alternative forms

• debonaire, debonnaire, débonnaire

Etymology

Old French debonaire, from the phrase de bon aire (“of good stock, noble”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /dɛbəˈneə(ɹ)/
• (US) enPR: děb-ə-nɛr', IPA^(key): /dɛbəˈnɛɹ/

Adjective

debonair (comparative more debonair, superlative most debonair)

1. (obsolete) Gracious, courteous.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto VI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

     Let be that Ladie debonaire, / Thou recreant knight, and soone thy selfe prepaire / To battell […] .

2. Suave, urbane and sophisticated.
   • 2015 February 12, Jon Ronson, “How One Stupid Tweet Blew Up Justine Sacco’s Life”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:

     She was a New York City person. Sacco is nervy and sassy and sort of debonair.

3. (especially of men) Charming, confident, and carefully dressed.
   • 2023 May 2, Samuel Fishwick, “The ‘secret romance’ that got everybody talking at the Met Gala”, in The Independent‎^[2]:

     The hard launch of what appeared to be the hottest new relationship in town – Billanna? Winty? – at the 2023 Met Gala saw Vogue supremo Wintour, who has hosted the Met Gala for 30 years, walk the red carpet arm in arm with the dashing and debonair Love Actually star, a man Clive James named “the nation’s leading male sexpot”.

Translations

(obsolete) Gracious, courteous

• German: liebenswürdig (de), reizend (de)
• Macedonian: у́чтив (účtiv)
• Russian: обходи́тельный (ru) (obxodítelʹnyj)

Suave, urbane and sophisticated

• German: gepflegt (de), elegant (de)
• Macedonian: у́чтив (účtiv), љу́безен (ljúbezen)
• Russian: обходи́тельный (ru) (obxodítelʹnyj)

Charming, confident and carefully dressed

• German: liebenswürdig (de), lässig-elegant, charmant (de), gepflegt (de), reizend (de)
• Macedonian: о́тмен (ótmen), елега́нтен (elegánten), при́влечен (prívlečen)
• Russian: гала́нтный (ru) (galántnyj)

Noun

debonair

1. (obsolete) Debonaire behaviour; graciousness.
   • 1748, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter XXXI”, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume I, London: […] S[amuel] Richardson;  […], →OCLC, page 196:

     But yet, shall my vanity extend only to personals, such as the gracefulness of dress, my debonnaire, and my assurance—Self-taught, self-acquired, these!

Anagrams

• diborane