What does QUAINT mean?

Definitions for QUAINT
kweɪntquaint

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word QUAINT.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. quaintadjective

    strange in an interesting or pleasing way

    "quaint dialect words"; "quaint streets of New Orleans, that most foreign of American cities"

  2. quaintadjective

    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. old-time, quaint, olde worldeadjective

    attractively old-fashioned (but not necessarily authentic)

    "houses with quaint thatched roofs"; "a vaulted roof supporting old-time chimney pots"

Wiktionary

  1. quaintnoun

    The vulva.

  2. quaintadjective

    Of a person: cunning, crafty.

  3. quaintadjective

    Cleverly made; artfully contrived.

  4. quaintadjective

    Strange or odd; unusual.

  5. quaintadjective

    Overly discriminating or needlessly meticulous; fastidious; prim.

  6. quaintadjective

    Pleasingly unusual; especially, having old-fashioned charm.

  7. Etymology: From cointe, queinte et al., cointe, from cognitus, past participle of cognosco.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. QUAINTadjective

    Etymology: coint, Fr. comptus, Lat.

    Each ear sucks up the words a true love scattereth,
    And plain speech oft, than quaint phrase framed is. Philip Sidney.

    You were glad to be employ’d,
    To shew how quaint an orator you are. William Shakespeare.

    He spends some pages about two similitudes; one of mine, and another quainter of his own. Edward Stillingfleet.

    As clerkes been full subtle and queint. Geoffrey Chaucer.

    But for a fine, quaint, graceful and excellent fashion, yours is worth ten on’t. William Shakespeare.

    Her mother hath intended,
    That, quaint in green, she shall be loose enrob’d
    With ribbands pendent, flaring ’bout her head. William Shakespeare.

    I never saw a better fashion’d gown,
    More quaint, more pleasing, nor more commendable. Sha.

    I’ll speak of frays,
    Like a fine bragging youth, and tell quaint lies,
    How honourable ladies sought my love,
    Which I denying they fell sick and died. William Shakespeare.

    He his fabrick of the heav’ns
    Hath left to their disputes, perhaps to move
    His laughter at their quaint opinions wide
    Hereafter. John Milton, Par. Lost, b. viii.

    With such fair slight him Guyon fail’d:
    Till at the last, all breathless, weary and faint,
    Him spying, with fresh onset he assail’d,
    And kindling new his courage, seeming quaint,
    Struck him so hugely, that through great constraint
    He made him stoop. Fairy Queen, b. ii.

    To this we owe those monstrous productions, which under the name of trips, spies, amusements, and other conceited appellations, have overrun us; and I wish I could say, those quaint fopperies were wholly absent from graver subjects. Jonathan Swift.

ChatGPT

  1. quaint

    Quaint is an adjective used to describe something as attractively unusual, old-fashioned or charmingly peculiar. This term is often used to refer to buildings, places, or practices that have a sense of nostalgia or romanticism due to their age or uniqueness.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Quaintadjective

    prudent; wise; hence, crafty; artful; wily

  2. Quaintadjective

    characterized by ingenuity or art; finely fashioned; skillfully wrought; elegant; graceful; nice; neat

  3. Quaintadjective

    curious and fanciful; affected; odd; whimsical; antique; archaic; singular; unusual; as, quaint architecture; a quaint expression

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Quaint

    kwānt, adj. unusual: odd: whimsical: (obs.) prim, affectedly nice: fine: (Shak.) clever.—adv. Quaint′ly.—n. Quaint′ness. [O. Fr. coint—L. cognitus, known. Some confusion with L. comptus, neat, is probable.]

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of QUAINT in Chaldean Numerology is: 9

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of QUAINT in Pythagorean Numerology is: 1

Examples of QUAINT in a Sentence

  1. Northrop Frye:

    Popular art is normally decried as vulgar by the cultivated people of its time; then it loses favor with its original audience as a new generation grows up; then it begins to merge into the softer lighting of quaint, and cultivated people become interested in it, and finally it begins to take on the archaic dignity of the primitive.

  2. Clive Moore:

    A current joke is that people lament the decline of Honiara's quaint Honiaras Chinatown, which is no longer central, but then others say it does not matter as the whole of Honiara is Honiaras Chinatown now.

  3. Mitch McConnell:

    What can't be undone is a life time appointment to a young man or woman who believes in the quaint notion that the job of the judge is to follow the law, that's the most important thing we've done in the country, which can not be undone.

  4. John Jay Chapman:

    If American politics does not look to you like a joke, a tragic dance; if you have enough blindness left in you, on any plea, on any excuse, to vote for the Democratic Party or the Republican Party (for at present machine and party are one), or for any candidate who does not stand for a new era, -- then you yourself pass into the slide of the magic-lantern; you are an exhibit, a quaint product, a curiosity of the American soil. You are part of the problem.

  5. David Howman:

    You mold your style according the presidential requirements, i was a lawyer, a barrister who went to court every day. Every judge is different and you adapt your argument according to the judge so it sort of comes naturally. Howman, who often represented athletes in New Zealand who could not afford his services and paid in cricket bats and All-Blacks rugby jerseys, has been there through all the highs and lows. When WADA opened in 2003, drugs in sport had already become a worldwide epidemic and fair play was merely a quaint idea. Doping was firmly entrenched in the sporting culture, largely tolerated, if not tacitly accepted, by those who competed in everything from cycling's Tour de France to baseball's World Series. With no meaningful out-of-competition testing, a mish-mash of sanctions and banned substance lists, entrepreneurs such as BALCO mastermind Victor Conte operated in near impunity, pushing out designer steroids faster than tests could be developed to detect them. From a small headquarters in Montreal, WADA has grown into a global agency with four regional offices and 35 laboratories, although four are currently under suspension.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

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Translations for QUAINT

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

  • طريفArabic
  • kuriózníCzech
  • kuriøs, løjerlig, ejendommeligDanish
  • pittoresk, kurios, wunderlich, malerisch, urigGerman
  • γραφικόGreek
  • pintoresco, curiosoSpanish
  • عجیب و جالبPersian
  • exigeant, illogique, finesse, incovenant, incohérant, remarquable, délicat, intelligence, pittoresqueFrench
  • विचित्रHindi
  • caratteristico, inappropriato, pittoresco, curioso, vano, bizzarroItalian
  • מוּזָרHebrew
  • 風変わりなJapanese
  • 기이Korean
  • onsamenhangend, vreemd, kieskeurig, schranderheid, ongepast, onlogisch, merkwaardig, pittoresk, typisch, slimheid, veeleisendDutch
  • estranhoPortuguese
  • ciudatRomanian
  • старомодныйRussian
  • staromodan, čudesanSerbo-Croatian
  • egendomlig, sällsam, kuriös, gammaldags, sirlig, pittoresk, gammalmodig, märkvärdig, ovanligSwedish
  • химернийUkrainian
  • 精巧Chinese

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"QUAINT." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 14 Nov. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/QUAINT>.

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    a state of irritation or annoyance
    A abrade
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    C exacerbate
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