Quaint

Definition: Quaint

Quaint

Adjective

1. Strange in an interesting or pleasing way; "quaint dialect words"; "quaint streets of New Orleans, that most foreign of American cities".

2. Very strange or unusual; odd or even incongruous in character or appearance; "the head terminating in the quaint duck bill which gives the animal its vernacular name"- Bill Beatty; "came forth a quaint and fearful sight"- Sir Walter Scott; "a quaint sense of humor".

3. Attractively old-fashioned; "houses with quaint thatched roofs"; "a vaulted roof supporting old-time chimney pots".

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "quaint" was first used: 12th century. (references)

Etymology: Quaint \Quaint\, adjective. [from Old English expression queint, queynte, coint, prudent, wise, cunning, pretty, odd, Old French cointe cultivated, amiable, agreeable, neat, from the Latin expression cognitus known, past participle of cognoscere to know; con noscere (for gnoscere) to know. See Know, and compare to Acquaint, Cognition.]. (references)

Literature

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Synonym: Quaint

Beauty

Goodly, dapper, tight, jimp; gimp; janty, jaunty; trig, natty, quaint, trim, tidy,neat, spruce, smart, tricksy.

Conciseness

Adjective: concise, brief, short, terse,close; to the point, exact; neat, compact; compressed, condensed, pointed; laconic, curt, pithy, trenchant, summary; pregnant; compendious; (compendium); succinct; elliptical, epigrammatic, quaint, crisp; sententious.

Ridiculousness

Adjective: ridiculous, ludicrous; comical; droll, funny, laughable, pour rire, grotesque, farcical, odd; whimsical, whimsical as a dancing bear; fanciful, fantastic, queer, rum, quizzical, quaint, bizarre; screaming; eccentric; (unconformable); strange, outlandish, out of the way, baroque, weird; awkward; (ugly).

Unconformity

Unusual, unaccustomed, uncustomary, unwonted, uncommon; rare, curious, odd, extraordinary, out of the ordinary; strange, monstrous; wonderful; unexpected, unaccountable; outre, out of the way, remarkable, noteworthy; queer, quaint, nondescript, none such, sui generis; unfashionable; fantastic, grotesque, bizarre; outlandish, exotic, tombe des nues, preternatural; denaturalized.

Crosswords: Quaint

The quaint houses of rice paper, sir: they were made of paper because there was no other material available (Conquest of Space; writing credit: Chesley Bonestell; Willy Ley)

How quaint. (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home; writing credit: Leonard Nimoy; Harve Bennett)

Oh, how quaint - even the rabble (Sleeping Beauty; writing credit: Milt Banta; Winston Hibler)

Quaint St. Augustine (1939)

The Quaint Q's (1925)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Books

• I Never Knew That About Colorado: A Quaint Volume of Forgotten Lore (reference)

• Quaint and Historic Forts of North America (reference)

• Quaint Birdhouses You Can Paint and Decorate (reference)

• Quaint Customs and Manners of Japan (reference)

• Quaint Furniture in Arts and Crafts (Mission Furniture Catalogues Ser No 9) (reference)

  (more book examples)

Music

• This Is Quaint [IMPORT] (reference)

  (more classical music examples; more popular music examples)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

She made a quaint contrast with the sleepy old stead. Credit: Library of Congress.

Quaint, straw-thatched houses of a Moro village, Philippine section of World's Fair, St. Louis, U.S.A. Credit: Library of Congress.

View of the "quaint" old sea town of Stonington, Connecticut. Credit: Library of Congress.

Stonington, Conn., ... a view of the quaint old sea town. Credit: Library of Congress.

You all know her, Fanny Rice quaint, original, dainty, bright. Credit: Library of Congress.

Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Travel

Vietnam

Westerners often view the idea of face as quaint, but to many Vietnamese it matters a great deal, and the loss of face by your contact could very well mean the loss of your contact. (references)

Cote D'ivoire

Prices are reasonable by American standards and offer a wide range (from the delightfully quaint maquis to elegant Continental restaurants where a meal for two can easily top USD 100). The city is known throughout the region for its excellent seafood, high-quality local cuisine, and international specialties: French, Lebanese, Italian, Mexican, Vietnamese and Chinese restaurants can all be found in the city. (references)

Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Expressions using "quaint": quaint character ♦ quaint dress. Additional references.

Beginning with "quaint": quaint-looking, quaint-sounding.

Albanian

origjinal (original, originality, patent, pristine, racy, uncoined, unconventional, unfeigned, unhackneyed), më vete (severally, single), i çuditshëm (bizarre, cranky, curious, dark, eccentric, electric, erratic, extraordinary, fanciful, fantastic, fantastical, frabjous, freak, freakish, funny, grotesque, kinky, odd, oddish, off beat, outlandish, peculiar, pixilated, puzzling, queer, quizzical, rummy, strange, surprising, uncanny, unco, unnatural, unusual, viewy, way out, weird, whimsical). (various references)

Arabic 

‏غريب (absurd, alien, anomalous, antic, bizarre, eerie, eery, exotic, extraneous, fanciful, foreign, freakish, funny, grotesque, intruder, ludicrous, new, odd, outlandish, outsider, peculiar, potty, queer, rum, senseless, singular, strange, stranger, tall, unaccustomed, uncanny, uncouth, unearthly, unfamiliar, unnatural, whimsical), ‏طريف (curious, exquisite, facetious), ‏أصيل (evening, genuine, original, proper, purebred, sincere, thoroughbred, trueborn, well bred), ‏ظريف (amiable, amicable, amusing, companionable, fine, flowing, gallant, humorist, humorous, humourist, jolly, likeable, nice, obliging, pet, pleasing, prepossessing, pretty, stylish, witty, wry). (various references)

Bulgarian 

странен (bizarre, comic, comical, fantastic, fantastical, freakish, funny, grotesque, novel, odd, outlandish, peculiar, queer, remarkable, rum, rummy, screwy, singular, strange, uncanny, unco, unheard of, weird, whimsical), старомоден (antiquated, archaic, corny, dowdy, fossil, fusty, hunker, moldy, obsolete, old fashioned, old hat, old time, out of date, outmoded, passe, primitive, square-toed, traditional), чудат (comic, comical, crackpot, eccentric, extravagant, faddish, faddy, odd, peculiar, pixilated, queer, quizzical, rum, rummy, screwy, singular, vagrant, viewy), с чара на нещо старинно, отживял (antiquated, dated, musty, obsolete, out of date, time worn), необикновен (devilish, different, distinct, exceptional, extraordinary, extreme, freak, freakish, novel, out, out of the ordinary, out of the way, phenomenal, portentous, remarkable, singular, special, unaccustomed, unaverage, uncommon, unconventional, unheard of, unusual, weird). (various references)

Chinese 

離奇有趣 , 古雅. (various references)

Czech

zvláštní (curious, extra, extraordinary, funny, individual, intriguing, odd, outlandish, particular, peculiar, queer, singular, special, strange, unique, weird), podivný (curious, eldritch, freak, peculiar, queer, rum, strange, utter, weird), originální (genuine, imaginative, novel, original), malebný (picturesque, scenic, scenical), kuriózní (curious, unusual), komický (amusing, comic, comical, droll, funny, grotesque, humorous), idylický (idyllic). (various references)

Danish

ligatur (joined letters, ligature, ligatures, quaint character), dobbelttype (joined letters, ligature, ligatures, quaint character). (various references)

Dutch

vreemd (alien, curious, foreign, interesting, odd, peculiar, strange), typisch (characteristic, curious, interesting, typical), curieus (curious, interesting). (various references)

Esperanto

kurioza (curious, interesting). (various references)

Faeroese

sjáldsamur (curious, interesting, precious, rare), løgin (comic, comical, curious, funny, interesting, odd, peculiar, strange). (various references)

Farsi 

عجیب وجالب , خیلی ظریف , ازروی مهارت . (various references)

Finnish

kummallinen (curious, interesting, odd, peculiar, queer, strange). (various references)

French

singulier (queer), curieux. (various references)

German

kurios (curious, interesting, odd, peculiar, strange). (various references)

Greek 

κομψόσ (bijou, chic, comely, dainty, dapper, debonair, dressy, elegant, fancy, fine, jaunty, natty, neat, nifty, posh, pretty, prim, rakish, smart, spark plug, sparkish, spiffy, stylish, trig, trim, well groomed), γραφικός (colourful, picturesque), ιδιόρρυθμοσ (cranky, peculiar, sui genesis), παράξενοσ (bizarre, codger, crotchety, curious, eerie, freakish, funny, grotesque, outlandish, peculiar, queer, quizzical, rum, strange), παράξενος (odd, out of place, peculiar, queer, strange), αλλόκοτοσ (bizarre, eerie, grotesque, nondescript, odd, queer, weird). (various references)

Hebrew 

מוזר (curious, peculiar, queer, strange), משונה (anomalous, eccentric, freak, odd, queer, strange, weird), מקסים ומיוחד, ציורי (descriptive, graphic, pictorial, picturesque). (various references)

Hungarian

régies (antique, archaic, obsolete), különös (antic, arabesque, bizarre, bonkers, extraordinary, fanciful, fantastic, fantastical, freaky, funny, outlandish, particular, peculiar, queer, rummy, singular, strange, uncommon), furcsa (bizarre, bonkers, cockeyed, curious, dorky, droll, fanciful, fantasy, freakish, freaky, funny, grotesque, how odd that, kooky, louche, odd, outlandish, queer, quizzical, rum, rummy, strange, strange to say, weird), érdekes (great card, interesting, intriguing, juicy, literature of escape, readable). (various references)

Italian

antiquato (antiquated, bygone, obsolescent, obsolete, old fashioned, oldfangled, outdated, outmoded, rusty, Square, stuffy, superannuated). (various references)

Japanese Kanji 

乙　 (chic, strange, stylish), 乙 (2nd in rank, chic, queer, romantic, second sign of the Chinese calendar, spicy, strange, stylish, tasty, witty). (various references)

Japanese Katakana 

おつ (chic, queer, romantic, spicy, strange, stylish, tasty, witty). (various references)

Korean 

기묘한. (various references)

Manx

quaagh (alien, aloof, foreign, ghostly, odd, peculiar, psychic, psychical, strange, supernatural, uncanny, weird), aitt (curiosity, droll, funny). (various references)

Norwegian

underlig, eiendommelig. (various references)

Pig Latin

aintquay.(various references)

Portuguese

singular (curious, interesting, novel, odd, particular, peculiar, queer, remarkable, rum, single, singular, special, strange). (various references)

Romanian

demodat (antiquated, dated, disused, frumpish, obsolete, old fashioned, out, out of date, out of fashion, outmoded, passe, rusty, stale, unfashionable), ciudat (cranky, curious, droll, eccentric, extraordinary, extravagant, fanciful, fancy, freakish, funny, intriguing, kinky, odd, out of the way, outlandish, particular, peculiar, peculiarly, queer, rum, rummy, singular, strange, strangely, uncouth, unusual, weird, whimsical), bizar (bizarre, droll, extravagant, fancy, queer, rummy, singular, strange, strangely, whimsical), amuzant (amusing, as good as a play, diverting, droll, entertaining, funny, jocular, laughable, light). (various references)

Russian 

причудливый (bizarre, capricious, crotchety, fanciful, fantastic, fantastical, freaky, quirky, whimsical). (various references)

Serbo-Croatian

staromodan (frumpish, fusty, moss-grown, old fashioned, old hat, outmoded, passe, square-toed), nepodesan (discordant, impaired, improper, inappropriate, inapt, incongruous, inconvenient, inept, inexpedient, unaccommodating, unapt, unbefitting, undue, unsuitable, unsuited), čudan (eccentric, flaky, funny, miraculous, odd, oddish, peculiar, pixilated, queer, strange, unco, way out, weird, wondrous). (various references)

Spanish

pintoresco (lurid, picturesque, scenic, scenical, vivid). (various references)

Swedish

gammalmodig (antiquated, antique, dated, dowdy, fusty, obsolete, old fashioned, old-fangled, old-fashioned, out of date, out of fashion, Square, superannuated), egen (odd, one's own, own, peculiar, queer, strange). (various references)

Turkish

ilginç (absorbing, amazing, curious, engrossing, exciting, far out, fastmoving, gripping, interesting, juicy, kooky, picturesque, quirky, taking), eski ve hoş, antika (antiquarian, antique, crusted, curio, curiosity, eccentric, kooky, old world, queer), acayip (antic, bizarre, bughouse, comical, comically, crotchety, curious, droll, exotic, fanciful, fantastic, fantastical, flaky, freak, freakish, grotesque, incongruous, kinky, kooky, novel, odd, out of the way, outlandish, peculiar, queer, quirky, quizzical, rum, rummy, screwball, singular, some, splendiferous, strange, uncanny, unco, unusual, weird). (various references)

Ukrainian

чудернацький (crotchety, odd, oddball, outlandish, weird), вишуканий (accomplished, ambitious, becoming, chic, choice, courtly, dainty, delicate, distinguished, dressmaker, exquisite, fine, foppish, kid glove, minion, nice, nutty, polished, polite, precious, recherche, trim, way up), оригінальний (fresh, nonconformist, offbeat, original, patent, picturesque, queerish), мудрий (gash, philosophic, philosophical, sage, sapiential, wise), дивний (amazing, astonishing, astounding, bizarre, capricious, curious, freakish, odd, oddball, oddish, offbeat, original, out of the way, outlandish, queer, rum, rummy, strange, unaccountable, weird, wonderful, wondrous). (various references)

Vietnamese 

xinh đẹp (personable). (various references)

Welsh

tlws (brooch, gem, jewel, pretty), pert (pert, pretty). (various references)

cognitus, mirus. (various references)

cointe. (various references)

Derivations

Words beginning with "quaint": quainter, quaintest, quaintly, quaintness, quaintnesses. (additional references)

Words ending with "quaint": acquaint, reacquaint. (additional references)

Words containing "quaint": acquaintance, acquaintances, acquaintanceship, acquaintanceships, acquainted, acquainting, acquaints, reacquainted, reacquainting, reacquaints, unacquainted. (additional references)

Misspellings

"Quaint" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: aquaint, caint, equant, qaing, qaint, quaen, quaent, quai, quaiint, quain, quainc, quaind, quaine, quaints, quaintz, quait, quan, quane, quani, quanity, quante, quanth, quanti, quants, quanty, Quantz, queant, quein, quent, quhin, quian, quient, quinnt, quinty, Quirindi, quoint, quranic, Quwait, quzin, squaint. (additional references)

Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

Direct Anagrams: quinta.

-1 letter: quant, quint.

-2 letters: anti, aunt, quai, quin, quit, tain, tuna, unai, unit.

-3 letters: ain, ait, ani, ant, nit, nut, qat, qua, tan, tau, tin, tui, tun, uta.

-4 letters: ai, an, at, in, it, na, nu, ta, ti, un, ut.

+1 letter: antique, asquint, piquant, quantic, quinate, quinnat, quintal, quintan, quintar, quintas.

+2 letters: acquaint, aliquant, antiqued, antiquer, antiques, aquatint, equating, equation, equitant, quainter, quaintly, quantics, quantify, quantile, quanting, quantity, quantize, quatrain, quinnats, quintain, quintals, quintans, quintars, tranquil.

+3 letters: acquaints, antiquark, antiquary, antiquate, antiquers, antiquing, antiquity, aquatints, clinquant, equations, liquating, liquation, piquantly, quaintest, quantiles, quantized, quantizer, quantizes, quatrains, quintains, quittance, quotation, quotidian, squatting.