quaint

CEFRB2

/kweɪnt/

adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    adjective

    Attractively old-fashioned and slightly unusual.

  2. 02

    adjective

    Extra detail

    Cleverly made; artfully contrived.

Examples

  • We stayed in a quaint bed and breakfast by the sea.

  • His accent sounds a little quaint.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5

Also pronounced

  • [kʰweɪ̯nt]

Deep Dive

adjective

Extra meanings

  1. Strange or odd; unusual.

  2. Of a person: cunning, crafty.

  3. Pleasingly unusual; especially, having old-fashioned charm.

More examples

In context

  • It's a quaint old village.

  • But you, my Lord, were glad to be imploy'd, / To shew how queint an Orator you are.

  • describe races and games, / Or tilting furniture, imblazon'd shields, / Impresses quaint, caparisons and steeds, / Bases and tinsel trappings […].

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The small village is known for its blank old houses with thatched roofs.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

adjective

From Middle English queynte, quoynte, from Anglo-Norman cointe, queinte and Old French cointe (“pretty, clever, knowing”), from Latin cognitus, past participle of cognōscō (“to know”).