winsome

[win-suh m]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR winsome ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

sweetly or innocently charming; winning; engaging: a winsome smile.

Origin of winsome

before 900; Middle English winsom, Old English wynsum, equivalent to wyn joy (see wynn) + -sum -some¹

Related formswin·some·ly, adverbwin·some·ness, nounun·win·some, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for winsome

Contemporary Examples of winsome

With her open Midwestern face and winsome smile, it was easy for her to get into conversations.
Spies, Lies, and Rape in the Air Force: An Undercover Agent's Story
Jacob Siegel
March 4, 2014
Winsome is what the GOP is scrambling for these days, and on that Rubio delivered.
Marco Rubio Winsome in Response to Obama, Rand Paul Mostly Feisty
Michelle Cottle
February 13, 2013

Historical Examples of winsome

So most certainly was the bold, pert little widow who rolled her eyes and put on winsome airs.
A Book of Ghosts
Sabine Baring-Gould
The stories are the windows that Dr. Goss opens upon the practical themes that brighten every page of this winsome book.
What a Young Woman Ought to Know
Mary Wood-Allen
The artist, we see, painted the mother as beautiful and the child as winsome as he could well imagine them.
Titian; a collection of fifteen pictures and a portrait of the painter
Estelle Hurll
By winsome dame full many / therefor must bitter tear be shed.
The Nibelungenlied
Unknown
"I am going to leave you to the undisturbed enjoyment of your feast," she said, in her most winsome manner.
At Last
Marion Harland

British Dictionary definitions for winsome

winsome

adjective

charming; winning; engaginga winsome smile

Derived Formswinsomely, adverbwinsomeness, noun

Word Origin for winsome

Old English wynsum, from wynn joy (related to Old High German wunnia, German Wonne) + -sum -some 1

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 winsome

adj.

Old English wynsum "agreeable, pleasant," from wynn "pleasure, delight" (cf. German Wonne "joy, delight;" see win (v.)) + -sum (see -some (1)). Apparently surviving only in northern English dialect for 400 years until revived 18c. by Hamilton, Burns, and other Scottish poets.