cute

[ kyoot ]
See synonyms for: cutecutestcutelycuteness on Thesaurus.com

adjective,cut·er, cut·est.
  1. attractive, especially in a dainty way; pleasingly pretty: a cute child; a cute little apartment.

  2. appealing and delightful; charming: What a cute toy!

  1. affectedly or mincingly pretty or clever; precious: The child has acquired some intolerably cute mannerisms.

  2. mentally keen; clever; shrewd.

noun
  1. the cutes, Informal. self-consciously cute mannerisms or appeal; affected coyness: The young actress has a bad case of the cutes.

Idioms about cute

  1. meet cute, Informal.

    • (of a romantic couple) to meet for the first time in a charming or amusing way: In this type of movie the boy and girl always meet cute.

    • Also meet-cute . a situation or occasion when potential romantic partners meet for the first time in a charming or amusing way: a classic Hollywood meet cute; his meet-cute with Jane in the bookstore.

Origin of cute

1
First recorded in 1615–25; aphetic variant of acute

Other words from cute

  • cutely, adverb
  • cuteness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

British Dictionary definitions for cute

cute

/ (kjuːt) /


adjective
  1. appealing or attractive, esp in a pretty way

  2. mainly US informal sexually attractive

  1. informal affecting cleverness or prettiness

  2. clever; shrewd

Origin of cute

1
C18 (in the sense: clever): shortened from acute

Derived forms of cute

  • cutely, adverb
  • cuteness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012