| English Dictionary |
QUAINT
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
| IPA (US): |  |
Dictionary entry overview: What does quaint mean?
• QUAINT (adjective)
The adjective QUAINT has 3 senses:
1. strange in an interesting or pleasing way
2. very strange or unusual; odd or even incongruous in character or appearance
3. attractively old-fashioned (but not necessarily authentic)
Familiarity information: QUAINT used as an adjective is uncommon.
Dictionary entry details
| Declension: comparative and superlative |
Superlative: quaintest
Sense 1
Meaning:
Strange in an interesting or pleasing way
Context example:
quaint streets of New Orleans, that most foreign of American cities
Similar:
strange; unusual (being definitely out of the ordinary and unexpected; slightly odd or even a bit weird)
Derivation:
quaintness (strangeness as a consequence of being old fashioned)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Very strange or unusual; odd or even incongruous in character or appearance
Context example:
a quaint sense of humor
Similar:
strange; unusual (being definitely out of the ordinary and unexpected; slightly odd or even a bit weird)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Attractively old-fashioned (but not necessarily authentic)
Synonyms:
old-time; olde worlde; quaint
Context example:
a vaulted roof supporting old-time chimney pots
Similar:
fashionable; stylish (being or in accordance with current social fashions)
Derivation:
quaintness (the quality of being quaint and old-fashioned)
Context examples
He is so quaint that I am determined to understand him as well as I can.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
“Well! It's a quaint place, and they are quaint company, and it's quite a new sensation to mix with them.”
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
“It is, as you say, rather quaint,” returned Guest.
(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
I admire all that quaint, old-fashioned politeness; it is much more to my taste than modern ease; modern ease often disgusts me.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
On the far side of the open stood one of the hills, with two quaint, craggy peaks shining vividly in the sun.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
In some quaint freak of Nature, two spirits seemed to have been joined in one body, and the same frame to contain the best and the worst man of his age.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Brown, soft-eyed children ran out from the quaint stone hovels to offer nosegays, or bunches of oranges still on the bough.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
A minute later we were all seated in a comfortable landau, and were rattling through the quaint old Devonshire city.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Summerlee was on guard, sitting hunched over our small fire, a quaint, angular figure, his rifle across his knees and his pointed, goat-like beard wagging with each weary nod of his head.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Strange that I should choose you for the confidant of all this, young lady; passing strange that you should listen to me quietly, as if it were the most usual thing in the world for a man like me to tell stories of his opera-mistresses to a quaint, inexperienced girl like you!
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
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