How to Use bon vivant in a Sentence

bon vivant

noun
  • In addition to being a renowned travel writer, he was a bon vivant who loves to hold dinner parties and serve exquisite, elaborate meals.
  • Like the city itself, the food has an inimitable bon vivant spirit.
    Tracey Teo, ajc, 21 July 2022
  • Sachs, the oldest sibling, has been filming her bon vivant dad for decades.
    Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 15 Jan. 2021
  • Roosevelt used his bon vivant air to encourage people to speak up and share their truths with him.
    John Baldoni, Forbes, 23 Oct. 2024
  • Charles Finch, the film producer, brand builder and bon vivant, didn’t know him, either.
    Vanessa Friedman, New York Times, 22 July 2019
  • Tanya quickly falls in with bon vivant Quentin and his crew of sycophants and hunky, errr, relatives.
    Anna Fixsen, ELLE Decor, 9 Dec. 2022
  • The ceiling was to be shared by a bon vivant, learned cardinal with a select audience of like-minded men.
    Monika Schmitter, Fortune, 21 Mar. 2023
  • Her father is an Argentine bon vivant who is also a diplomat, a drug addict, and a gambler.
    Vogue, 26 Dec. 2024
  • Friends described him as a bon vivant and a generous colleague who once paid to have apartments built for secretaries at his law practice.
    New York Times, 27 Aug. 2019
  • This tailor in Manhattan is the definition of the bon vivant.
    Sam Dangremond, Town & Country, 29 May 2015
  • The sunny, bubbly bon vivant is staying upbeat, and looking at the positives, per usual.
    Madeleine Marr, Miami Herald, 4 Nov. 2025
  • Her bon vivant father had been the founder of a large British publishing firm, Pergamon Press.
    Washington Post, 17 Mar. 2021
  • Don Artemio was an author born in Saltillo in 1884 who became a bon vivant and a gourmand.
    Dallas News, 13 Apr. 2022
  • Mr Johnson represents the party’s wing of cavalier public-school bons vivants.
    The Economist, 10 Aug. 2019
  • Even in the bon vivant capital of the world, the gravity of the current state of things could be felt throughout Paris Fashion Week.
    Lauren Valenti, Vogue, 8 Oct. 2020
  • In one instant, bon vivant Hugo (Brian Mackey), the host of a midsummer night’s fete, is exiting stage left.
    David L. Coddon, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Oct. 2019
  • Hawke plays Hart as a sadsack bon vivant, the life of the party even as his heart was cracking—but then, a heart in the process of breaking may be the purest form of energy known to humankind.
    Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 11 Dec. 2025
  • Lest onlookers carp that a bunch of bon vivants have wrecked the joint, Rosen insists that respect for design, architecture, and good food underscores the effort.
    Gabe Ulla, Town & Country, 9 Aug. 2017
  • The two exceptions are Single Fin, founded by a pro surfer, and Ulu Cliffhouse, an upmarket beach club for bon vivants.
    Juliet Kinsman, Condé Nast Traveler, 9 Feb. 2026
  • There’s director and bon vivant Paul Feig, the focus of The Answers this month; another who does things his way and looks good doing it.
    Paul Croughton, Robb Report, 22 Oct. 2023
  • Before his brothers were killed, Ted Kennedy was the third wheel — a rude, ruddy bon vivant in contrast to the austere Bobby and polished Jack.
    Dan Zak, BostonGlobe.com, 14 Mar. 2018
  • The role of confidant and witty bon vivant to New York's most glittering society jewels was a position Capote held dear.
    Cady Lang, TIME, 2 Feb. 2024
  • As an irritable bon vivant who mainlined jazz and cocaine to sing lullabies like a cherub in a Tiepolo painting, David Crosby made no sense.
    Chris Richards, Washington Post, 20 Jan. 2023
  • In his search for collaborators (who are being shot by a firing squad in the street), Piller tracks down Van Meegeren, an erstwhile artist, art dealer and bon vivant.
    Katie Walsh, Los Angeles Times, 19 Nov. 2020
  • Part of the international jet set and known as a bon vivant, Gianni started his career on Wall Street but made his name as a nightlife impresario.
    Georgina Schaeffer, Town & Country, 4 Sep. 2013
  • Unlike the always retiring Edward, however, Oswald is a bon vivant comfortable in his own skin — a great dancer, a karaoke master, and a ladies’ man.
    Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 18 Jan. 2025
  • Unlike the always retiring Edward, however, Oswald is a bon vivant comfortable in his own skin — a great dancer, a karaoke master, and a ladies’ man.
    Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 18 Jan. 2025
  • Gathered on the twenty-eighth floor of the Peninsula were more guests–a mix of journalists, ticketholders, and general bon vivants–than could pass through his tiny restaurant over three or four nights.
    Jason Tesauro, Esquire, 7 Dec. 2017
  • Bill Murray, an ardent Chicago and Illinois sports enthusiast, longtime bon vivant, a man of many talents and many roles, had that going for him.
    Andrew Carter, Chicago Tribune, 4 Apr. 2026
  • David Anthony Smith is brilliant as Andrew Wyke, a bon vivant, game loving, whiskey swilling, mystery writer of a certain age.
    Laura Demarco, cleveland, 21 Feb. 2020

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bon vivant.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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