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 The original meaning of quaintness, "proudness or cunning," is obsolete.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
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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.
Celebration promised a throwback quaintness, the way towns allegedly were.
From Salon • May 2, 2023
Instead, we grin at the Lumière film’s charmingly calculated quaintness, which opened the door to today’s mass sensation of Disney’s Marvel Universe.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 13, 2022
And if you lived through the events being depicted, the 30-something Neyfakh’s presentation of them can have a slightly irritating flavor of nostalgia and condescension, emphasizing the quaintness of the not-that-distant past.
From New York Times • Sep. 16, 2021
People came to the region year-round for the fresh air, the quaintness of a fishing village and the magnificent rock formations, which also lured many artists before and after Monet.
From Seattle Times • Jun. 30, 2021
This is what I have, coffee and pie, sitting in one of the purple booths, watching young people exclaim over what they think is the quaintness of the past.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
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.
