Dainty Meaning
/ˈdeɪnti/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjElegant; delicately small and pretty.
adjFastidious and fussy, especially when eating.
Sentence Examples
Few boys are dainty about their food.
Her extremely short and rather shabby skirt revealed a pair of uncommonly dainty ankles.
Her sweet, kind face features a dainty pig's snout.
CEFR Practice Quiz
She wore a ____ lace handkerchief pinned to her blouse.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Few boys are ____ about their food.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English deynte (as noun), from Old French deintié, from Latin dignitātem. Doublet of dignity.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"As for thoſe People of the Eaſt, (Goa, Calecute, Malaca,) they vvere a Fine, and Dainty People; Frugall, and yet Elegant, though not Militar."
— 1622 (date written), Francis [Bacon], “An Advertisement Touching an Holy Warre. […]”, in William Rawley, editor, Certaine Miscellany Works of the Right Honourable Francis Lo. Verulam, Viscount S. Alban. […], London: […] I. Hauiland for Humphrey Robinson, […], published 1629, →OCLC, page 104:
"Those dainty limbs which nature lent / For gentle usage and soft delicacy."
— 1634 October 9 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), [John Milton], edited by H[enry] Lawes, A Maske Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634: […] [Comus], London: […] [Augustine Matthews] for Hvmphrey Robinson, […], published 1637, →OCLC; reprinted as Comus: […] (Dodd, Mead & Company’s Facsimile Reprints of Rare Books; Literature Series; no. I), New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1903, →OCLC:
"However, with the dainty volume my quondam friend sprang into fame. At the same time he cast off the chrysalis of a commonplace existence."
— 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
"The cutting sides were gay with heather in bloom, and masses of dainty Scots bluebells, while patches of clear sky overhead were bringing life and colour to the sea."
— 1947 January and February, O. S. Nock, “"The Aberdonian" in Wartime”, in Railway Magazine, page 9:
"UUho when he ſhal embrace you in his arms
UUil tell how many thouſand men he ſlew.
And when you looke for amorous diſcourſe,
Will rattle foorth his facts of war and blood:
Too harſh a ſubiect for your daintie eares."
— c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act III, scene ii:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
She wore a ____ lace handkerchief pinned to her blouse.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Few boys are ____ about their food.