How to Use bona fides in a Sentence

bona fides

noun
  • Their fans would take that as proof of their bona fides.
    — Natasha O'Neill, Vanity Fair, 26 Jan. 2026
  • Roots bona fides, goosed with rock zeal and a chip on the shoulder.
    — Matt Wake | [email protected], al, 20 June 2022
  • Hew might be a ghost kitchen, but its Thai bona fides are real.
    — Mike Sutter, San Antonio Express-News, 11 Feb. 2021
  • None of which has stopped her from becoming a bona fide icon in France.
    — Lauren Elkin, Harper's magazine, 25 Nov. 2019
  • Williams is the last bona fide superstar left in the women’s draw.
    — Kevin Craft, The Atlantic, 3 Sep. 2019
  • Ajayi was not only drafted, but has emerged as a bona fide star in his third season.
    — Adam H. Beasley, miamiherald, 29 Sep. 2017
  • There’s a bona fide movement of people who like to watch things ooze out of other things.
    — Sarah Watts, The Cut, 1 Nov. 2017
  • This week, Roseanne Barr—a bona fide racist—was outed, fired and hung out to dry.
    — Felice León, The Root, 1 June 2018
  • This November will test the Ravens' bona fides in much the same way.
    — Jonas Shaffer, baltimoresun.com, 18 Oct. 2020
  • For all of his comedic bona fides, Arnett had never dabbled in stand-up.
    — Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 21 Nov. 2025
  • Not to say that the original version didn’t have its own fashion bona fides, of course.
    — José Criales-Unzueta, Vogue, 3 Feb. 2023
  • Sure, this man might lack tact at times, but his baseball bona fides are undeniable.
    — Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 22 Oct. 2025
  • Should the game become a bona fide hit, that could be key to sustaining this year’s stock rally.
    — Bloomberg News, The Denver Post, 9 June 2019
  • Ahead, bona fide plant whisperers share the plants that deserve a spot in the most sacred space of all.
    — Erin Parker, Glamour, 3 Mar. 2020
  • And if the allegiance to right-wing values were paramount, wouldn’t his pro-life bona fides count?
    — Elizabeth MacBride, Quartz, 7 Jan. 2020
  • So the fact that anyone will soon be able to buy the legit version from Swatch is a bona fide big deal.
    — Tyler Watamanuk, GQ, 17 Apr. 2018
  • Fashion loves a first time, sure, but what made the show really one to watch were Blazy’s bona fides.
    — José Criales-Unzueta, Vogue, 16 Dec. 2022
  • But then there was Chuck Norris, whose bona fides preceded him.
    — John Devore, Rolling Stone, 20 Mar. 2026
  • Whether the young candidate’s progressive bona fides will hurt him in the runoff remains to be seen.
    — Joshua Fechter, San Antonio Express-News, 10 May 2021
  • Ever since, he's been a bona fide force for Xavier and has changed the way teams prepare for the Muskies.
    — Patrick Brennan, Cincinnati.com, 20 Dec. 2017
  • Ng also has stellar bona fides in the education world.
    — Jared Perlo, NBC news, 27 Dec. 2025
  • Make a deal for Beal, and the Nuggets have not one bona fide all-star, but two in their starting lineup.
    — Mark Kiszla, The Denver Post, 9 July 2019
  • The Colts have proven their bona fides as legit AFC contenders.
    — Scott Horner, The Indianapolis Star, 23 Dec. 2021
  • Chrissie Hynde proved the bona fides of her Bob Dylan fandom decades ago.
    — Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 21 May 2021
  • Allen’s postseason bona fides are well-established.
    — Nick Kosmider, New York Times, 15 Jan. 2026
  • Both Murkowski and Tshibaka boast of their Alaska bona fides.
    — Manu Raju and Alex Rogers, CNN, 4 Oct. 2021
  • Even with that objective checklist, though, to use bona fide to describe a slide is still to make the whole thing a question of faith.
    — Emma Baccellieri, SI.com, 30 May 2018
  • This album also sounds like two DIY scene vets trying to prove their punk bona fides.
    — Kieran Press-Reynolds, Pitchfork, 13 Feb. 2026
  • Worse yet, the Browns have just five or six bona fide NFL players on the roster.
    — Mike Preston, baltimoresun.com, 18 Dec. 2017
  • Trump supporters cheered the appointment, and not just because of Durham's bona fides.
    — Eric Tucker, ajc, 19 Oct. 2022

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bona fides.' 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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