verb
-
to behave flirtatiously
-
to dally or trifle
Etymology
Origin of coquet
1685–95; < French; literally, cockerel, equivalent to coq cock + -et -et
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
A: I'm afraid I was a bit of a coquet in my youth, but now that I'm a grandmother with an 18-year-old granddaughter, I'm simplifying what I wear.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 1, 2010
But the triumph is Lady Froth, ‘a great coquet, pretender to poetry, wit, and learning,’ and one would almost as lief have seen Mrs. Mountfort in the part as the Bracegirdle’s Millamant.
From The Comedies of William Congreve Volume 1 [of 2] by G. S. (George Slythe) Street
She laugh and make the mock at him, and play coquet with the others before his face.
From Roger Ingleton, Minor by Talbot Baines Reed
The Graces from the court did next provide Breeding, and wit, and air, and decent pride: These Venus cleans'd from ev'ry spurious grain Of nice coquet, affected, pert, and vain.
From The Poems of Jonathan Swift, D.D., Volume 1 by William Ernst Browning
The simplicity of the remedy is so attractive that it is not surprising that the Governments of industrial nations should coquet from time to time with the policy of compulsory arbitration.
From The Acquisitive Society by R. H. Tawney
Madame coquetted with him in the most captivating and naive manner, with eyes, gestures, and a profusion of compliments, till the Colonel’s old head felt thirty years younger on his padded shoulders.
From "The Awakening" by Kate Chopin
She coquetted with me, discarded me, and wedded my kinsman.
From Trevethlan: Volume 1 A Cornish Story. by William Davy Watson
The idle wits frequented the public walks, coquetted, and made madrigals.
From Priests, Women, and Families by Jules Michelet
A bright red rose showed among the manifold braids of her black hair, and she had in her hand a rose-colored fan, with which she coquetted very prettily.
From A Reconstructed Marriage by Amelia Edith Huddleston Barr
An', father,"—here she coquetted with him—"you and mother are not to 'nopolize him when he comes.
From The Angel of the Gila: A Tale of Arizona by Cora Marsland
He was exactly fitted to hew his way to the Presidency, and he would have done so infallibly if he had not made the mistake of coquetting with slavery.
From Abraham Lincoln, Volume 2 (of 2) The True Story of a Great Life by William H. Herndon
Remember, no vagaries, no irregularities, no coquetting with the ‘one time that never hurts one.’
From The Little Vanities of Mrs. Whittaker A Novel by John Strange Winter
Emmie sang two more songs, Julia laughing and coquetting with Ethan over prelude and interlude; and then Julia played a nocturne.
From The Open Question a tale of two temperaments by Elizabeth Robins
A man coquetting with too many countries is as bad as a bigamist, and loses his soul altogether.
From The Letters of William James, Vol. II by William James
Thus he passed successively into the hands of the Scots, the Parliament and the New Model, trying to reverse the verdict of arms by coquetting with each in turn.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 4 "Grasshopper" to "Greek Language" by Various
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
