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Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
debonair
adjective
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ a stylish, debonair young man
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Oh, he was charming and debonair - but he was no match for Damian Flint.
▪ So the debonair Simon had made it big in the financial world.
▪ The thought of debonair Seb Smith being beaten by spotty, horrid little Nails tickled Nutty's imagination.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Debonair

Debonair \Deb`o*nair"\, a. [OE. debonere, OF. de bon aire, debonaire, of good descent or lineage, excellent, debonair, F. d['e]bonnaire debonair; de of (L. de) + bon good (L. bonus) + aire. See Air, and Bounty, and cf. Bonair.] Characterized by courteousness, affability, or gentleness; of good appearance and manners; graceful; complaisant.

Was never prince so meek and debonair.
--Spenser.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
debonair

c.1200, "mild, gentle, kind courteous," from Old French debonaire, from de bon' aire "of good race," originally used of hawks, hence, "thoroughbred" (opposite of French demalaire). Used in Middle English to mean "docile, courteous," it became obsolete and was revived with an altered sense of "pleasant, affable" (1680s).

Wiktionary
debonair

a. 1 (context obsolete English) gracious, courteous. 2 suave, urbane and sophisticated. 3 (especially of men) charming, confident(,) and carefully dressed.

WordNet
debonair
  1. adj. having a sophisticated charm; "a debonair gentleman" [syn: debonaire, debonnaire, suave]

  2. having a cheerful, lively, and self-confident air; "looking chipper, like a man...diverted by his own wit"- Frances G. Patton; "life that is gay, brisk, and debonair"- H.M.Reynolds; "walked with a jaunty step"; "a jaunty optimist" [syn: chipper, debonaire, jaunty]

Wikipedia
Debonair (airline)

Debonair was a British airline operating mainly from London Luton Airport offering flights to and from Spain, France, Germany and Italy. It ceased operations in October 1999.

Debonair

Debonair or debonaire may refer to:

  • Debonair (airline), a British airline that operated 1996 to 1999
  • Debonair (magazine), an Indian men's magazine
  • Debonair, a U.S. men's magazine
  • The Debonaires, a transgressive dirty joke that has been told by numerous stand-up comedians since the vaudeville era
  • Beechcraft Debonair, a model variant of the Beechcraft Bonanza, a civil aircraft introduced in 1947 by the Beech Aircraft Corporation
  • Mitsubishi Debonair, a mid-size sedan by Mitsubishi Motors
  • The early name of The Flairs, an American doo wop group
  • Debonair, a character in Magic Knight Rayearth
  • "Debonair", a song by The Afghan Whigs on the album Gentlemen
  • "Debonaire", a song by Dope on the album Felons and Revolutionaries
Debonair (magazine)

Debonair is an Indian monthly men's magazine, originally modeled after Playboy.

Usage examples of "debonair".

He had one hand thrust in his pocket, the other holding a cigarette in a pose that would have passed for debonair in a West End theatre but only managed ridiculous in a Derbyshire farm kitchen.

A debonair Etonian, Steed oozes charm, wit and - when he chooses to -- hard-edged, steely menace.

Vance, on the other hand, was volatile, debonair, and possessed of a perpetual Juvenalian cynicism, smiling ironically at the bitterest realities, and consistently fulfilling the role of a whimsically disinterested spectator of life.

Scottie of the debonair suits and the poker face, Scottie who ran agents the way a child threw toys into battle--Scottie danced among shadows of his own, a parallel kingdom within the Agency itself.

Purple satin kerchiefs were tied around their necks and debonair straw boaters were rakishly angled on top of their heads.

And nevertheless, I counsel you that ye mistrust not my lord: for I wot well and know verily, that he is debonair and meek, large, courteous and nothing desirous nor envious of good nor riches: for there is nothing in this world that he desireth save only worship and honour.

One gathered from it that that elusive and distressingly picturesque outlaw, the Saint, had set the Law by the ears again with a new climax of audacities: his name and nom de guerre waltzed through the bald paragraphs of the narrative like a debonair will-o'-the-wisp, carrying with it a breath of buccaneering glamour, a magnificently medieval lawlessness, that shone with a strange luminance through the dull chronicles of an age of dreary news.

And among others, to whose ears was wafted the bruit of Gerbino's magnificent prowess and courtesy, was a daughter of the King of Tunis, who, by averment of all that had seen her, was a creature as fair and debonair, and of as great and noble a spirit as Nature ever formed.

Of which the fairest-hued in the throat Was called Damoselle Partelote, Courteous she was, discreet, and debonair, And companiable,* and bare herself so fair, *sociable Since the day that she sev'n night was old, That truely she had the heart in hold Of Chanticleer, locked in every lith.

And Tullius saith, 'There is nothing so commendable in a great lord, as when he is debonair and meek, and appeaseth him lightly [easily].

Now that I am fond of you, and am at pains to pleasure you, I do most frankly and fully confess and I ask them whether, considering only all that it means to have had, and to have continually, before one's eyes your debonair demeanour, your bewitching beauty and exquisite grace, and therewithal your modest womanliness, not to speak of having known the amorous kisses, the caressing embraces, the voluptuous comminglings, whereof our intercourse with you, ladies most sweet, not seldom is productive, they do verily marvel that I am fond of you, seeing that one who was nurtured, reared, and brought up on a savage and solitary mountain, within the narrow circuit of a cell, without other companion than his father, had no sooner seen you than 'twas you alone that he desired, that he demanded, that he sought with ardour?

He saw them as a flock of stalky wading birds, dazzlingly competent with their sprightly hops and debonair pivots.