Quaintness

//ˈkweɪntnəs// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Cunning; craftiness. countable, obsolete, uncountable
  2. 2
    strangeness as a consequence of being old fashioned wordnet
  3. 3
    Skill, artfulness. countable, obsolete, uncountable
  4. 4
    the quality of being quaint and old-fashioned wordnet
  5. 5
    Primness, fastidiousness, preciousness. countable, obsolete, uncountable

    "As for good Terence, I allow the quaintnesse [translating mignardise] and grace of his Latine tongue, and judge him wonderfull conceited and apt[…]."

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  1. 6
    The state or fact of being quaint; having old-fashioned charm. countable, uncountable

Synonyms

All synonyms
absurditydeformityeccentricityhilarityincongruitymalformation

Example

More examples

"The average Westerner, in his sleek complacency, will see in the tea ceremony but another instance of the thousand and one oddities which constitute the quaintness and childishness of the East to him."

Etymology

From quaint + -ness.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.