gamine

[ gam-een, -in, ga-meen ]

noun

1. a neglected girl who is left to run about the streets.
2. a diminutive or very slender girl, especially one who is pert, impudent, or playfully mischievous.

adjective

1. of or like a gamine:

   a gamine personality; clothes for the gamine figure.

gamine

/ ˈɡæmiːn; ɡamin /

noun

1. 1. a slim and boyish girl or young woman; an elfish tomboy
   2. ( as modifier )

      a gamine style of haircut

Word History and Origins

Origin of gamine¹

1895–1900; < French; feminine of gamin

Word History and Origins

Origin of gamine¹

from French

Example Sentences

She pointed to Maksymenko, whose delicate, gamine features make her seem especially frail.

From The Daily Beast

They are both posh, pretty, gamine English girls blessed with serious eyebrows and a taste for the high life.

From The Daily Beast

At Givenchy, designer Riccardo Tisci has settled into a house once defined by the gamine aesthetic of Audrey Hepburn.

From The Daily Beast

This trend started last year when Diablo Cody and her glorious fempire—appeared, starring the impossibly gamine Lorene Scafaria.

From The Daily Beast

He had not noticed it himself, but seemed to have eyes for nobody but Sidonie, a gamine.

From Project Gutenberg

He could not stop talking of the little gamine who was "his own picture."

From Project Gutenberg