lagniappe
Americannoun
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Chiefly Southern Louisiana and Southeast Texas. a small gift given with a purchase to a customer, by way of compliment or for good measure; bonus.
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a gratuity or tip.
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an unexpected or indirect benefit.
noun
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a small gift, esp one given to a customer who makes a purchase
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something given or obtained as a gratuity or bonus
Etymology
Origin of lagniappe
An Americanism dating back to 1840–50; from Louisiana French, from Latin American Spanish la ñapa, la yapa “the addition,” equivalent to la feminine definite article + ñapa, yapa from from Quechua, yapa “that which is added”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The Post offered a lexical lagniappe in the form of “graupel” as reported in the March 27 Metro article “Winter’s remnants linger on Saturday.”
From Washington Post • Apr. 8, 2022
In his essential book "Imbibe," David Wondrich calls the Sazerac — created in the Crescent City before the turn of the 20th century — "New Orleans' own liquid lagniappe."
From Salon • Feb. 13, 2021
“My way to break down barriers, connect with people, and start to see each other on a human level: a bit of lagniappe, as we say in Louisiana.”
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 24, 2020
The rest of the trip was lagniappe: fishing, playing games, hanging out around the camp.
From Washington Times • Nov. 7, 2020
Whyn't you ax fur des one lagniappe o' sugar-plums, baby, bein's it's Christmas?
From Solomon Crow's Christmas Pockets and Other Tales by Stuart, Ruth McEnery
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.