Quaint

/kweɪnt/ · adjective

Meaning

(obsolete) Of a person: cunning, crafty..

Definitions by Sense

1. (obsolete) Of a person: cunning, crafty.
2. (obsolete) Cleverly made; artfully contrived.
3. (now dialectal) Strange or odd; unusual.
4. (obsolete) Overly discriminating or needlessly meticulous; fastidious; prim.
5. Pleasingly unusual; especially, having old-fashioned charm.
6. (obsolete or historical) The vulva.

Example Sentences

But you, my Lord, were glad to be imploy'd, / To shew how queint an Orator you are.

describe races and games, / Or tilting furniture, imblazon'd shields, / Impresses quaint, caparisons and steeds, / Bases and tinsel trappings […].

Till that there entered on the other side / A straunger knight, from whence no man could reed, / In quyent disguise, full hard to be descride […].

Lord Gifford, deep beneath the ground, / Heard Alexander's bugle sound, / And tarried not his garb to change, / But, in his wizard habit strange, / Came forth, a quaint and fearful sight; [...]

What none would dispute though many smiled over was the good-humored, necessary, yet quaint omission of the writer's name from the whole consideration.

She, nothing quaint / Nor 'sdeignfull of so homely fashion, / Sith brought she was now to so hard constraint, / Sate downe upon the dusty ground anon […].

I admire all that quaint, old-fashioned politeness; it is much more to my taste than modern ease; modern ease often disgusts me.

If you're fond of sand dunes and salty air, / Quaint little villages here and there, / You're sure to fall in love with old Cape Cod.

Synonyms for quaint

Antonyms for quaint

Related Words

Word Forms

• quainter
• quaintest
• quaints

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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