coquettish
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of coquettish
First recorded in 1685–95; coquett(e) ( def. ) + -ish 1 ( def. )
Explanation
Coquettish describes a woman's flirtatious manner. If you were acting in a coquettish way, you might banter playfully and bat your eyelashes. Coquettish is the adjective form of the noun coquette, a young, flirtatious woman. Coquette is the feminine diminutive of the French word coq, which means cockerel or rooster. The word was originally applied to men in the form of coquet to express how men would strut to attract women the same way roosters do to attract hens. Using coquet for a flirtatious male is now rare, but the feminine version remains.
Vocabulary lists containing coquettish
"A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner
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Dracula
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A Streetcar Named Desire
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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.
More damagingly, it doesn’t seem as if Hnath’s Nora has evolved all that much from the skittishly coquettish wife of Ibsen’s play.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 20, 2025
Ariel could seem bemused, enchanted, bereft, coquettish, alarmed, aghast, elated.
From New York Times ● May 24, 2023
"I think I'm camp rather than coquettish," she counters.
From BBC ● Feb. 3, 2021
The current season presents Diana, played by Emma Corrin, as young and coquettish.
From Salon ● Nov. 21, 2020
We bobbed our hair and wore cloche hats at coquettish angles and tried to sound like Gloria Swanson.
From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García
Definitions 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.
