coquette

American  

[koh-ket] / koʊˈkɛt /

noun

1. a woman who flirts lightheartedly with men to win their admiration and affection; flirt.

   Synonyms:

   vamp, tease

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verb (used without object)

1. to coquet.

coquette British  

/ kɒˈkɛt, kəʊˈkɛt /

noun

1. a woman who flirts

2. any hummingbird of the genus Lophornis, esp the crested Brazilian species L. magnifica

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Gender

What's the difference between coquette and coquet? See -ette.

Other Word Forms

• coquettish adjective
• coquettishly adverb
• coquettishness noun

Etymology

Origin of coquette

First recorded in 1605–15; from French, feminine of coquet

Explanation

A coquette is a flirt, a girl or woman who knows how to flatter and manipulate men with her charms in order to get what she wants. Coquette sounds French, and it is, borrowed into English from French in the mid-17th century. It's the feminine diminutive form of coq, which means "cock, a male bird" — so coquette refers to a little female bird, and, in fact, it's also the name of a kind of colorful hummingbird found in Latin America. If you imagine a coquette as a flamboyant little bird flitting about and teasing the male birds, you'll have a good picture of a coquette.

Example Sentences

This is the note I was furiously typing on my phone during Sandy Liang’s presentation: “Girly pop, coquette, hot ticket — obviously. Bandannas!!!”

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 13, 2024

Corrin immediately achieves a balance between the coquette and energetic idealist we picture Diana to be, and her performance invites the viewer into the Princess's interiority almost immediately.

From Salon • Nov. 14, 2020

This early Parisienne was an accessible figure, a scrappy coquette who loved as hard as she worked.

From The New Yorker • Sep. 19, 2019

The thumb-size short-crested coquette is found only in the forest edge along a roughly 15-mile stretch of road in the Sierra Madre del Sur mountain in southern Mexico.

From National Geographic • Apr. 18, 2018

See how admirably she already plays her part and what a success she will have in the r�le of la grande coquette!'

From Count Br?hl by Kraszewski, Jo?zef Ignacy