cute
Americanadjective
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cuter,
comparative
-
cutest
superlative
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attractive, especially in a dainty way; pleasingly pretty.
a cute child; a cute little apartment.
-
appealing and delightful; charming.
What a cute toy!
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affectedly or mincingly pretty or clever; precious.
The child has acquired some intolerably cute mannerisms.
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mentally keen; clever; shrewd.
noun
idioms
adjective
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appealing or attractive, esp in a pretty way
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informal sexually attractive
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informal affecting cleverness or prettiness
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clever; shrewd
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of cute
First recorded in 1615–25; aphetic variant of acute
Explanation
The adjective cute describes something that’s attractive in a pleasing, nonthreatening way. Things that are small or young are often described as cute, like babies, puppies, or toy fire engines. Something that’s cute is easy to like. We usually use cute to describe how something looks, like your cute smile or your cute dimples, but you can use it for anything that’s endearing or pleasing, like the boy-gets-girl ending to a romantic comedy. Cute can also refer to something that’s overly clever and a little bit fake. Don’t be too cute when you fill out a college application — the person reading it might not think it’s so funny.
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:
Call us cute if you must, but don’t be surprised when we bare our teeth in a snarl.”
From Salon ● Aug. 31, 2026
Same cheery font, same yellow bus blasting through the cosmos, same depiction of wacky teacher Ms. Frizzle and her cute chameleon sidekick Liz.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2026
“Puffins are cute and colorful, no doubt that is part of the lure,” says Renee Patterson, owner of Bold Coast Charter in Cutler, Maine, a cruise operator.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
Some absurd stories about dogs in the workplace: They’re cute.
From Slate ● Aug. 25, 2026
Lily is surprisingly cute and, apart from the stained shirt and sticky hands, not that dirty.
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
Time was ticking and I wasn’t getting any younger or cuter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 3, 2026
You might think this technology is being used to repair the genetic defect, but it is actually cuter than that.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2024
Nora Ephron couldn’t have written a cuter outing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 23, 2024
However, amid the photos of McCarthy looking completely exasperated, I tumbled down a much cuter rabbit hole this week.
From Slate ● Jun. 24, 2023
The baby grouse—and there isn’t anything cuter than a grouse chick—bonded with Hawk and thought she was their mother.
From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen
I attended high school there and had the cutest boyfriend.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 2026
“Sara had the cutest, biggest smile with her little cheeks. We don't have a photo in school where she hasn't got a smile on her face.”
From BBC ● Dec. 11, 2024
"But you definitely get fewer applications for black cats and, like, this guy —" Fairbanks held up the cutest gray kitten "— you know, just a, quote, 'plain tabby.'"
From Salon ● Dec. 6, 2024
And his Southern accent was the cutest thing in the world.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2024
To reel in the attention of animal lovers, there was the cutest photo of Sir Fig Newton from when he was a kitten batting at a ball.
From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas
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.
