elfin
Americanadjective
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of or like an elf.
-
small and charmingly spritely, merry, or mischievous.
noun
adjective
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of, relating to, or like an elf or elves
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small, delicate, and charming
Etymology
Origin of elfin
1560–70; alteration of Middle English elven elf, Old English elfen, ælfen nymph, equivalent to ælf elf + -en feminine suffix (cognate with German -in ); ælf cognate with German Alp nightmare, puck, Old Norse alfr elf
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.
It had a familiar look to it—there was the same elfin chin as Cassiopeia, the poetic mouth of Beowulf.
From Literature
It actually took a few years for the elfin monsters to break into the mainstream.
From BBC
Soon I was navigating the reading nooks and chef’s kitchens of an elfin cottage, a gothic coastal A-frame, a cozy “loch house” in the Scottish Highlands.
From New York Times
Smiling his little elfin smile, he sometimes looks no older than that 11-year-old boy who had the world taken from him.
From Los Angeles Times
"Chalamet is elfin and puckish, unworldly and possessed of a Paddingtonian innocence and charm - and a nice singing voice - without being insufferable," he wrote.
From BBC
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.
