gamine

[ gam-een, -in, ga-meen ]

noun

1. a neglected girl who is left to run about the streets.
2. a diminutive or very slender girl, especially one who is pert, impudent, or playfully mischievous.

adjective

1. of or like a gamine:

   a gamine personality; clothes for the gamine figure.

gamine

/ ˈɡæmiːn; ɡamin /

noun

1. 1. a slim and boyish girl or young woman; an elfish tomboy
   2. ( as modifier )

      a gamine style of haircut

Word History and Origins

Origin of gamine¹

1895–1900; < French; feminine of gamin

Word History and Origins

Origin of gamine¹

from French

Example Sentences

British actor Carey Mulligan’s soft eyes and fair complexion are typical of a kind of demure gamine who gets typecast as an underestimated heroine.

From Los Angeles Times

The first looks to grace the runway were what might be called “gamine gothic.”

From Seattle Times

Here, the riding jacket was a key theme, constructed in gleaming silken tweeds above gamine miniskirts and youthful skorts.

From Seattle Times

With her head held high and her clear, unwavering gaze, a dowdy backpack strapped to her back, she doesn’t resemble one of pop culture’s fantasy gamines.

From New York Times

What happens next is surprising and touching, and upends your notions about Anaïs and what this love story — with its flighty gamine, its extramarital affair, its routine heterosexual coupling — should be and what it is.

From New York Times