cute

[ kyoot ]

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!

3. affectedly or mincingly pretty or clever; precious:

   The child has acquired some intolerably cute mannerisms.

4. 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.

cute

/ kjuːt /

adjective

1. appealing or attractive, esp in a pretty way
2. informal.
   sexually attractive
3. informal.
   affecting cleverness or prettiness
4. clever; shrewd

Derived Forms

• ˈcutely, adverb
• ˈcuteness, noun

Other Words From

• cute·ly adverb
• cute·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of cute¹

First recorded in 1615–25; aphetic variant of acute

Word History and Origins

Origin of cute¹

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

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. meet cute, Informal.
   1. (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.

   2. 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.

Example Sentences

Wiseman as Samuel is alternately Devil-child and a cute young kid.

From The Daily Beast

The resulting Wool Runners were comfortable, eco-friendly, machine-washable, and super cute—and sold out almost immediately.

From The Daily Beast

We coo over how cute our cat is and minimize the drudgery of cleaning the litter box.

From The Daily Beast

Legs McNeil, of Punk magazine fame, once called him “cute” and “charming.”

From The Daily Beast

Of those, 1,980 used the term “cute”, while just 12 mentioned the word “ugly”.

From The Daily Beast

Took in her cute little face whilst she looked straight back at me.

From Project Gutenberg

Look at this lovely photo of Jessie and Julia, and isn't the frame cute!

From Project Gutenberg

The very same thing that happened to the chick seed—they burst and out come hundreds of cute little fish minnows.

From Project Gutenberg

The man is a pertickler friend o' mine, an' the boy is a cute little chap, an' he can pray better nor any minister in Sevenoaks.

From Project Gutenberg

I used to git kind o' mad at 'im, an' promise to foller 'im, but he's so 'cute, I sort o' like 'im.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• adorable
• beautiful
• charming
• delightful
• pleasant
• pretty