QUAINT • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Quaint

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adjective

Quaint adj.

1.

Prudent; wise; hence, crafty; artful; wily. (Obs.) "Clerks be full subtle and full quaint."

2.

Characterized by ingenuity or art; finely fashioned; skillfully wrought; elegant; graceful; nice; neat. (Archaic) " The queynte ring." " His queynte spear." " A shepherd young quaint." "Every look was coy and wondrous quaint." "To show bow quaint an orator you are."

3.

Curious and fanciful; affected; odd; whimsical; antique; archaic; singular; unusual; as, quaint architecture; a quaint expression. "Some stroke of quaint yet simple pleasantry." "An old, long-faced, long-bodied servant in quaint livery."

Synonyms: Quaint, Odd, Antique. Antique is applied to that which has come down from the ancients, or which is made to imitate some ancient work of art. Odd implies disharmony, incongruity, or unevenness. An odd thing or person is an exception to general rules of calculation and procedure, or expectation and common experience. In the current use of quaint, the two ideas of odd and antique are combined, and the word is commonly applied to that which is pleasing by reason of both these qualities. Thus, we speak of the quaint architecture of many old buildings in London; or a quaint expression, uniting at once the antique and the fanciful.

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Etymology of 'Quaint'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Quaint" Quotes from Famous Books

... according to an old legend, her lithe, active form should gradually turn to stone. But if the reverse could ever be true—if the beautifying Christian graces could dwell within her soul and light up her face—as lamps illumining some rare and quaint transparency, the resulting loveliness would realize ...

— Barriers Burned Away • E. P. Roe

... joy of that lively little spirit; who, though he had been a faithful servant to his master, was always longing to enjoy his free liberty, to wander uncontrolled in the air, like a wild bird, under green trees, among pleasant fruits, and sweet-smelling flowers. "My quaint Ariel," said Prospero to the little sprite when he made him free, "I shall miss you; yet you shall have your freedom." "Thank you, my dear master," said Ariel; "but give me leave to attend your ship home with prosperous gales, before you bid farewel to the assistance of your faithful ...

— Books for Children - The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb, Vol. 3 • Charles and Mary Lamb

... in a comfortable bed in a quaint old bedroom with roses nodding in at the half open casement windows. By the light of the candles they could see the strange old and carved furniture and tired as they were how they ...

— Frontier Boys on the Coast - or in the Pirate's Power • Capt. Wyn Roosevelt

... bear heart-hunger is For her quaint words and bits of bird-like song; The touch of dimpled hands, the soft warm kiss, O Friend, it makes the "little ...

— Verses and Rhymes by the way • Nora Pembroke

... by way of preface, I beg my readers to fancy themselves wafted away to the shores of the Bay of Yedo—a fair, smiling landscape: gentle slopes, crested by a dark fringe of pines and firs, lead down to the sea; the quaint eaves of many a temple and holy shrine peep out here and there from the groves; the bay itself is studded with picturesque fisher-craft, the torches of which shine by night like glow-worms among the outlying forts; far ...

— Tales of Old Japan • Algernon Bertram Freeman-Mitford

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