quaint
Americanadjective
-
having an old-fashioned attractiveness or charm; oddly picturesque.
a quaint old house.
- Synonyms:
- archaic, antiquated
-
strange, peculiar, or unusual in an interesting, pleasing, or amusing way.
a quaint sense of humor.
- Antonyms:
- ordinary
-
skillfully or cleverly made.
-
Obsolete. wise; skilled.
adjective
-
attractively unusual, esp in an old-fashioned style
a quaint village
-
odd, peculiar, or inappropriate
a quaint sense of duty
Other Word Forms
- quaintly adverb
- quaintness noun
Etymology
Origin of quaint
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English queinte, from Old French, variant of cointe “clever, pleasing,” from Latin cognitus “learned, known,” past participle of cognōscere “to learn, become acquainted”; cognition
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.
