Elfin

Definition: Elfin

Elfin

Adjective

1. Suggestive of an elf in strangeness and otherworldliness; "thunderbolts quivered with elfin flares of heat lightning"; "the fey quality was there, the ability to see the moon at midday"- John Mason Brown.

2. Small and delicate; "she was an elfin creature--graceful and delicate"; "obsessed by things elfin and small".

3. Relating to or made or done by or as if by an elf; "elfin bells"; "all the little creatures joined in the elfin dance".

4. Usually good-naturedly mischievous; "perpetrated a practical joke with elfin delight"; "elvish tricks".

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

Date "elfin" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1596. (references)

ELFIN

Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

Synonyms: Elfin

Demon

Adjective: demonic, demonical, impish, demoniacal; fiendish, fiend-like; supernatural, weird, uncanny, unearthly, spectral; ghostly, ghost-like; elfin, elvin, elfish, elflike; haunted; pokerish.

Littleness

Adjective: little; small; minute, diminutive, microscopic; microzoal; inconsiderable; (unimportant); exiguous, puny, tiny, wee, petty, minikin, miniature, pygmy, pigmy, elfin; undersized; dwarf, dwarfed, dwarfish; spare, stunted, limited; cramp, cramped; pollard, Liliputian, dapper, pocket; portative, portable; duodecimo; dumpy, squat; short.

Crosswords: Elfin

Books

• California Chaparral: An Elfin Forest (reference)

• Enchanted Tales: The Nightingale, the Bremen Town Musicians, the Elfin Grove, the Hunting of the Snark (reference)

• Kingdoms of Elfin (reference)

• Sulamith Wulfing's Elfin Cards: 12 Notecards & Envelopes (reference)

• The Elfin Brood (reference)

  (more book examples)

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

Floating Cannery, Elfin Cove. Credit: Alaska Historical Image Library.

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

Elfin

Elfin

Expression using "elfin": Elfin Cove. Additional references.

Beginning with "elfin": elfin-faced, elfin-formed, elfin-like.

Albanian

shejtan (brat, devil, impish, mischievous, monkey, puckish, scallywag, scampish, sea cock, varmint, villain), kukudhi, karanxholli. (various references)

Bulgarian 

самодивски (fairy), вълшебен (fairy, magic, magical), миниатюрен (diminutive, lilliputian, miniature, pocket-size, thumb-nail, tiny), подобен на елф (elvish). (various references)

Chinese 

小精灵似. (various references)

Czech

diblík. (various references)

French

sylphide, délicat. (various references)

German

Elfe (elf, fairy, pixie, sprite). (various references)

Greek 

ξωτικός, διαβολάκι (imp). (various references)

Hungarian

tündérszerű (elfish), tündérforma (elfish), pajkos tündér (elf, elves), pajkos gyerek (elf, elves), pajkos (arch, as mischievous as a monkey, elfish, frolicsome, impish, mischievous, naughty, playful, prankish, shrewd, tricksy), pöttöm emberke (elf, elves), manószerű (elfish), manó (boggle, bogy, brownie, elf, elves, flibbertigibbet, gnome, goblin, hobgoblin, imp, leprechaun, pigmy, pixie, pixy, pygmy, sprite, troll), lurkó (elf, elves, urchin), játékos tündér (elf, elves), incselkedő (elfish, josher, joshing, quizzical), huncut gyerek (elf, elves), huncut (elfish, impish, mischievous, perky, rogue, roguish, waggish), gonoszkodó (as artful as a monkey, elfish, impish). (various references)

Italian

elfo (elf, sprite). (various references)

Pig Latin

elfinay.(various references)

Portuguese

duende (bogle, elf, hob, hobgoblin, imp, leprechaun, pixie, pixy, spirit, sprite), duendal, diabrete (puck, urchin), anão (dwarf, elf, manikin, midge, midget, shrimp, undersized). (various references)

Romanian

spiriduş (brownie, elf, elves, familiar, Goblin, hobgoblin, spook, sprite), de spiriduş (elfish). (various references)

Russian 

относящийся к эльфам, проказливый (arch, prankish, puckish, roguish), похожий на эльфа. (various references)

Serbo-Croatian

magičan (elvish, magic, magical). (various references)

Spanish

duendecillo (gremlin, jinx). (various references)

Swedish

tomte-, okynnig (impish, mischievous), odygdig (puckish), alf-, älvlik (fairy, fairylike). (various references)

Thai

เล็กและบอบบาง, เหมือนเทพธิ�"าตัวเล็กๆ, มีเสน่ห์. (various references)

Turkish

yaramaz (elvish, good for nothing, impish, little perisher, mischievous, naughty, non-effective, obstreperous, pickle, prankish, rogue, rompy, scalawag, scamp, scapegrace, skittish, undisciplined, unmanageable, wicked), cinlerle ilgili, cin gibi (arch, as fresh as paint, astute, clever, elvish, gnomish, impish, puckish, quick-witted, sharp-witted, shrewd, wide awake). (various references)

Ukrainian

фея (fairy, pixie, pixy, sprite), шибеник (brat, hanger, puck, varmint, villain, wag). (various references)

Vietnamese 

yêu tinh (goblin, ogre, poltergeist, pooka, sprite). (various references)

Derivations

Words beginning with "elfin": elfins. (additional references)

Words containing "elfin": distelfink, distelfinks, selfing. (additional references)

Misspellings

"Elfin" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Aelfvin, Aelfwin, alfin, alfrink, Celfyn, delfen, delfim, delfin, Delfino, Eblin, efan, efen, effi, effin, efi, efik, Efim, efin, efine, efon, Efpn, Elafi, elbian, Elbin, elbit, eldip, elfa, Elfan, elfe, Elfel, Elfie, elfy, Eliffit, elin, elint, elric, elrin, elvin, elwin, elzi, enfin, eufa, helfen, lefan, lefi, Melfi, Oelfwine, O'finn. (additional references)

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

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

-1 letter: file, fine, lief, lien, life, line, neif.

-2 letters: elf, fen, fie, fil, fin, lei, lie, lin, nil.

-3 letters: ef, el, en, if, in, li, ne.

+1 letter: elfins, feline, finale, finely, olefin.

+2 letters: bluefin, fanlike, feeling, felines, felling, felting, finable, finagle, finales, finless, finlike, flavine, fleeing, flexing, flexion, fleying, flinder, flinger, flinted, fueling, fulmine, funicle, infidel, infield, inflame, inflate, inflect, leafing, liftmen, lobefin, nonlife, offline, olefine, olefins, selfing, sniffle.

+3 letters: affinely, antileft, antilife, bluefins, canfield, clefting, defiling, diolefin, enfilade, fanglike, faunlike, fawnlike, feelings, felinely, felinity, fellahin, felonies, feltings, fencible, fernlike, feruling, fettling, fielding, figuline, filament, filename, fileting, finagled, finagler, finagles, finalise, finalize, findable, fineable, finialed, finitely, fishline, flamines, flanerie, flatline, flavines, flecking, flection, fledging, fleecing, fleering, fleeting, flensing, fleshing, flexions, flinched, flincher, flinches, flinders, flingers, flinkite, flintier, florigen, flunkies, fluorine, foilsmen, fraulein, frenzily, friendly, fuelling, fulmined, fulmines, fungible, funicles, infernal, infidels, infields, inflamed, inflamer, inflames, inflated, inflater, inflates, inflects, inflexed, influent, influxes, infolded, infolder, ingulfed, leftwing, lifeline, lifelong, lobefins, ninefold, olefines, olefinic, refiling, reflying, rifleman, riflemen, roofline, shinleaf, sniffled, sniffler, sniffles, tefillin, unbelief, unfilled, unfilmed, unfoiled, unrifled, unwifely.