quaint

[kweynt]

See more synonyms for quaint on Thesaurus.com

adjective, quaint·er, quaint·est.

having an old-fashioned attractiveness or charm; oddly picturesque: a quaint old house.
strange, peculiar, or unusual in an interesting, pleasing, or amusing way: a quaint sense of humor.
skillfully or cleverly made.

Obsolete. wise; skilled.

Origin of quaint

1175–1225; Middle English queinte < Old French, variant of cointe clever, pleasing ≪ Latin cognitus known (past participle of cognōscere; see cognition)

Related formsquaint·ly, adverbquaint·ness, noun

Synonyms for quaint

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1. antiquated, archaic. 2. curious, uncommon.

Antonyms for quaint

2. ordinary.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for quaint

whimsical, funny, unusual, peculiar, fanciful, curious, weird, laughable, bizarre, cute, picturesque, charming, archaic, antiquated, droll, eccentric, erratic, fantastic, freakish, idiosyncratic

Examples from the Web for quaint

Contemporary Examples of quaint

According to Adoflsson, the tradition is nothing more than good vs. evil, set in a quaint Swedish town.
Sweden’s Burning Christmas Goat
Nina Strochlic
December 25, 2014
Today, the quaint spectacle of a stage-managed fairy-tale celebration strikes many of us as a load of garbage.
What Republicans Need Right Now Is a Good Internal Fight
James Poulos
November 6, 2014
Swarms of police, gunfire, panic—all foreign to a city known for its quaint, Commonwealth style, still air, and orderliness.
Terrorist Ends Canada’s Innocence
Tim Mak
October 22, 2014
I followed and was soon sitting at a quaint table with chairs facing the lake.
When Gary Wright Met George Harrison: Dream Weaver, John and Yoko, and More
Gary Wright
September 29, 2014
Reed moved to Bhutan when Thimphu was a quaint town of 30,000.
Can Traditional Bhutan Survive Tourism?
Esha Chhabra
August 17, 2014

Historical Examples of quaint

And then there are the quaint epitaphs on the gravestones, of which many have made collections.
English Villages
P. H. Ditchfield
It was of finer material than most of the "Egyptians," and the fashion was quaint and graceful.
The Green Satin Gown
Laura E. Richards
It is quaint and severe, however, and abounding in dry conceits.
The Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 10, No. 58, August, 1862
Various
Meg and Jan had tears in their eyes as they watched the quaint spectacle.
Jan and Her Job
L. Allen Harker
The Owlet is twin to that quaint little bird, so its name flew to her and stayed.
Lotus Buds
Amy Carmichael

British Dictionary definitions for quaint

quaint

adjective

attractively unusual, esp in an old-fashioned stylea quaint village
odd, peculiar, or inappropriatea quaint sense of duty

Derived Formsquaintly, adverbquaintness, noun

Word Origin for quaint

C13 (in the sense: clever): from Old French cointe, from Latin cognitus known, from cognoscere to ascertain

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for quaint

adj.

c.1200, cointe, "cunning, ingenious; proud," from Old French cointe "knowledgeable, well-informed; clever; arrogant, proud; elegant, gracious," from Latin cognitus "known, approved," past participle of cognoscere "get or come to know well" (see cognizance). Modern spelling is from early 14c.

Later in English, "elaborate, skillfully made" (c.1300); "strange and clever" (mid-14c.). Sense of "old-fashioned but charming" is first attested 1795, and could describe the word itself, which had become rare after c.1700 (though it soon recovered popularity in this secondary sense). Related: Quaintly; quaintness.