bodacious

The definition of bodacious is very attractive, or bold or gutsy.

(adjective)

  1. A really attractive woman is an example of someone who might be described as bodacious.
  2. A person with a fun, quirky personality that is a little bit out-there and adventurous is an example of someone who might be described as having a bodacious personality.

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See bodacious in Webster's New World College Dictionary

adjective

  1. outstanding in a showy way; splendid
  2. bold or blatant

Related Forms:

See bodacious in American Heritage Dictionary 4

also bow·da·cious

adjective
  1. Remarkable; prodigious.
  2. Audacious; gutsy.
adverb
  1. Completely; extremely.
  2. Audaciously; boldly.

Origin:

Origin: Probably from dialectal boldacious

Origin: , blend of bold

Origin: and audacious

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Regional Note: Popularized in the comic strip Snuffy Smith, bodacious is probably a blend of the words bold and audacious, whose combined senses are evident in the following description of Sevier County, Tennessee, as “the most bodacious display of tourism this side of Anaheim” (Los Angeles Times). A more traditional meaning is “remarkable, prodigious”: “a bodacious amount of smoke” (Springfield MA Morning Union); “the most bodacious tale of hidden treasure” (Lawrence E. Will). Bodacious can also be an adverbial intensifier: “She's so bowdacious unreasonable when she's raised [irritated] (William T. Thompson). African-American speech in New York City retains this Southernism as bardacious. Joseph Wright's English Dialect Dictionary cites the form boldacious, which is the likely source for bodacious.

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