Meaning & use
quaint
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Meanings
adjectivecomparableapproving
Pleasantly old-fashioned or unusual in a way that feels charming and a little picturesque.
Grammar: Works before a noun or after be: a quaint village, the shop looks quaint.
Patterns
- quaint little something
We stayed in a quaint cottage with a thatched roof.
The quaint streets of the old town were lined with tiny shops.
Her quaint habit of writing letters by hand charmed everyone.
adjectivecomparabledisapproving
Seeming outdated or naive in a way that is mildly amusing, sometimes with a hint of condescension.
Grammar: Can sound patronizing when applied to someone's ideas: a quaint notion.
Patterns
- a quaint idea
- a quaint belief
He found her faith in the postal system quaint.
The idea that a phone could be left at home seemed quaint to the teenagers.
Their quaint notion of privacy made the engineers smile.
Word forms
| comparative | quainter |
|---|---|
| superlative | quaintest |
Common combinations
- quaint village
- We drove through a quaint village with a stone bridge.
- quaint charm
- The inn has a quaint charm that tourists love.
- quaint custom
- Lighting candles at the window is a quaint custom here.
- quaint little
- They live in a quaint little house by the canal.
- quaint notion
- It is a quaint notion that everyone knows their neighbors.
- look quaint
- The old tram makes the street look quaint.
Synonyms and how they differ
- charming
- Praises attractiveness without implying age, whereas quaint adds an old-fashioned, slightly odd flavor.
- picturesque
- Focuses on how good something looks in a scene, while quaint also suggests small scale and age.
- old-fashioned
- Simply means no longer current and can be neutral or negative, whereas quaint is usually warm.
- twee
- A British word for excessively cute and sentimental, harsher than quaint.
Opposites
Word family
- quaintly adverb
- in a charmingly old-fashioned way
- quaintness noun
- the quality of being quaint
Commonly confused: quaint or quiet?
quaint vs quiet
Quiet means making little noise; quaint means charmingly old-fashioned. Quiet villages are often quaint, but the words are not interchangeable.
Practice
Which place would most naturally be described as quaint?
Choose one answer.
Quaint suggests small, charming and old-fashioned. The other places are modern or purely functional.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “quaint”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.