cute

[kyoot]

adjective

cuter, cutest 

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. Informal.,  the cutes, 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

Other Word Forms

• cuteness noun
• cutely adverb

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,

   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

In the meantime, the zoo shared photos of the new cute fuzzy primates.

From Los Angeles Times

They wished they could go on campuses and condescend to cute girls, but they knew — they continue to know — that wouldn’t go well for them.

From Salon

"You think you keep it for them", Declutter Hub's Jansen adds, "but actually it's your memory, because you remember going to shops and buying it with them and thinking how cute they looked."

From BBC

There were several times when he pretended to be unfamiliar with the celebrity presenters in ways that simply weren’t cute.

From Salon

Nelson's cute chip over the England defence bought territory in style.

From BBC

Related Words

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