quaintness
Americannoun
Explanation
Quaintness is a quality of being sweetly old-fashioned and a little bit unusual. Although you find them a little creepy, you also appreciate the quaintness of the dolls in your grandma's collection. Think of a charming bed and breakfast decorated in a whimsical style — its quaintness is what's special about it, setting it apart from sleek, modern hotel rooms. There's often a touch of eccentricity in quaintness, like the curious quaintness of a neighbor whose house is lit with oil lamps and who wears a long, flowing cape. The original meaning of quaintness, "proudness or cunning," is obsolete.
Vocabulary lists containing quaintness
Vampires, Hearts and Other Dead Things
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The Suffix -ness, Part 3
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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.
More locals are willing to accept development, as long as it doesn’t overwhelm the quaintness of the city, apartment developer Tourtellote said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
Some of the quaintness of the ride has been lost, of course, as commercialism took root along the route.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 24, 2023
Celebration promised a throwback quaintness, the way towns allegedly were.
From Salon ● May 2, 2023
But in a way, that nostalgia is the message: There is a quaintness in Richard Nixon’s comeuppance in “Slow Burn,” in a time when there was still a generally shared sense of right and wrong.
From New York Times ● Sep. 16, 2021
After all, the Latin terms survive more or less in free variation with the Greek, and Puttenham’s English equivalents are abundantly charming—albeit that charm is conditioned by a certain quaintness.
From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith
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.
