Adjacent Words

Quaint definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

QUAINT, a. [The latter word would lead us to refer quaint to the Latin accinctus, ready, but Skinner thinks it more probably from comptus, neat, well dressed.]
1. Nice; scrupulously and superfluously exact; having petty elegance; as a quaint phrase; a quaint fashion.
To show how quaint an orator you are.
2. Subtle; artful. Obs.
3. Fine-spun; artfully framed.
4. Affected; as quaint fopperies.
5. In common use, odd; fanciful; singular; and so used by Chaucer.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: strange in an interesting or pleasing way; "quaint dialect words"; "quaint streets of New Orleans, that most foreign of American cities"
2: very strange or unusual; odd or even incongruous in character or appearance; "the head terminating in the quaint duck bill which gives the animal its vernacular name"- Bill Beatty; "came forth a quaint and fearful sight"- Sir Walter Scott; "a quaint sense of humor"
3: attractively old-fashioned (but not necessarily authentic); "houses with quaint thatched roofs"; "a vaulted roof supporting old-time chimney pots" [syn: old-time, quaint, olde worlde]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: Middle English queinte, cointe, from Anglo-French, clever, expert, from Latin cognitus, past participle of cognoscere to know — more at cognition Date: 13th century 1. obsolete expert, skilled 2. a. marked by skillful design <quaint with many a device in India ink — Herman Melville> b. marked by beauty or elegance 3. a. unusual or different in character or appearance ; odd <figures of fun, quaint people — Herman Wouk> b. pleasingly or strikingly old-fashioned or unfamiliar Synonyms: see strange • quaintly adverb • quaintness noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 piquantly or attractively unfamiliar or old-fashioned. 2 daintily odd. Derivatives: quaintly adv. quaintness n. Etymology: earlier senses 'wise, cunning': ME f. OF cointe f. L cognitus past part. of cognoscere ascertain

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Quaint Quaint, a. [OE. queint, queynte, coint, prudent, wise, cunning, pretty, odd, OF. cointe cultivated, amiable, agreeable, neat, fr. L. cognitus known, p. p. of cognoscere to know; con + noscere (for gnoscere) to know. See Know, and cf. Acquaint, Cognition.] 1. Prudent; wise; hence, crafty; artful; wily. [Obs.] Clerks be full subtle and full quaint. --Chaucer. 2. Characterized by ingenuity or art; finely fashioned; skillfully wrought; elegant; graceful; nice; neat. [Archaic] `` The queynte ring.'' `` His queynte spear.'' --Chaucer. `` A shepherd young quaint.'' --Chapman. Every look was coy and wondrous quaint. --Spenser. To show bow quaint an orator you are. --Shak. 3. Curious and fanciful; affected; odd; whimsical; antique; archaic; singular; unusual; as, quaint architecture; a quaint expression. Some stroke of quaint yet simple pleasantry. --Macaulay. An old, long-faced, long-bodied servant in quaint livery. --W. Irving. Syn: Quaint, Odd, Antique. Usage: Antique is applied to that which has come down from the ancients, or which is made to imitate some ancient work of art. Odd implies disharmony, incongruity, or unevenness. An odd thing or person is an exception to general rules of calculation and procedure, or expectation and common experience. In the current use of quaint, the two ideas of odd and antique are combined, and the word is commonly applied to that which is pleasing by reason of both these qualities. Thus, we speak of the quaint architecture of many old buildings in London; or a quaint expression, uniting at once the antique and the fanciful.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(quainter, quaintest) Something that is quaint is attractive because it is unusual and rather old-fashioned. ...a small, quaint town with narrow streets and traditional half-timbered houses... ADJ • quaintly This may seem a quaintly old-fashioned idea. ADV: usu ADV adj • quaintness ...the quaintness of the rural north.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Odd, strange, singular, antique, antiquated, old-fashioned, archaic, unusual, uncommon, extraordinary, unique, curious, droll, fanciful. 2. Recondite, subtle, ingenious, artful, abstruse, nice, neat, artificially elegant, characterized by ingenuity or art. 3. Far-fetched, affected, odd, whimsical, fantastic, out of the way.

Moby Thesaurus

absurd, acquaint, amusing, antiquated, antique, archaic, bizarre, curious, droll, eccentric, fanciful, fantastic, freaked out, freaky, funny, hilarious, humorous, idiosyncratic, incongruous, kooky, laughable, ludicrous, odd, oddball, off, off the wall, offbeat, old-fashioned, out, outlandish, passing strange, peculiar, picturesque, present, priceless, queer, quizzical, rich, ridiculous, risible, screaming, singular, strange, uncommon, unconventional, unearthly, unorthodox, unusual, weird, whimsical, witty, wondrous strange