dainty
UK/ˈdeɪnti/
dainty adjective: elegant; delicately small and pretty.
Adjective
dainty (comparative daintier, superlative daintiest)
- Elegant; delicately small and pretty.
- As for thoſe People of the Eaſt, (Goa, Calecute, Malaca,) they vvere a Fine, and Dainty People; Frugall, and yet Elegant, though not Militar.1622 (date written), Francis [Bacon], “An Advertisement Touching an Holy Warre. […]”, in William Rawley, editor, Certaine Miscellany Works of the Right Honourable Francis Lo. Verulam, Viscount S....
- Those dainty limbs which nature lent / For gentle usage and soft delicacy.1634 October 9 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), [John Milton], edited by H[enry] Lawes, A Maske Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634: […] [Comus], London: […] [Augustine Matthews] for Hvmphrey...
- Fastidious and fussy, especially when eating.
- UUho when he ſhal embrace you in his arms
UUil tell how many thouſand men he ſlew.
And when you looke for amorous diſcourſe,
Will rattle foorth his facts of war and blood:
Too harſh a ſubiect for your daintie eares.c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC... - And let us not be dainty of leave taking, / But shift away.c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
- UUho when he ſhal embrace you in his arms
- Excellent; valuable, fine.
- Heliogabalus the most dissolute man of the world, amidst his most riotous sensualities, intended, whensoever occasion should force him to it, to have a daintie death.1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 13, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC
Noun
dainty (plural dainties)
- A delicacy (choice or pleasing food).
- And she receyued hym with grete Ioye and made hym to sytte doune by her and soo was he sette to soupe with flesshe and many deyntees
And she received him with great joy, and made him to sit down by her, and so was he set to sup with flesh and many dainties.1485, Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur Book XVI, Chapter vii leaf 337r - […]my case was deplorable enough, yet I had great cause for thankfulness that I was not driven to any extremities for food, but had rather plenty, even to dainties.1719, Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe
- And she receyued hym with grete Ioye and made hym to sytte doune by her and soo was he sette to soupe with flesshe and many deyntees
- A fancy cookie, pastry, or square, frequently homemade, served at a social event.
- Esteem, honour.
- An affectionate term of address.
- I am not eager at forbidden dainties1616, Ben Jonson, The Devil Is an Ass
dainty meaning in Hindi, Bengali, Malayalam and Kannada
dainty in Hindi
- dainty, delicate
- स्वादु svādu
dainty in Bengali
- সুস্বাদু
dainty in Malayalam
- ചെറുതായ, രുചികരമായ, പരിഷ്ക്യത പെരുമാറ്റമുളള, ലളിതമായ, വിനീതമായ
dainty in Kannada
- ರಸಕವಳ, ರುಚಿಯಾದ ಭಕ್ಷ್ಯ, ಸವಿಯಾದ, ಅಂದವಾದ, ನವುರಾದ, ಪುಟ್ಟ
More languagesFewer languages
- dainty in Sanskrit
- मिष्ट miṣṭa, संपन्न saṃpanna
Examples of dainty in a sentence
- However, with the dainty volume my quondam friend sprang into fame.1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company...
- The cutting sides were gay with heather in bloom, and masses of dainty Scots bluebells, while patches of clear sky overhead were bringing life and colour to the sea.1947 January and February, O. S. Nock, “"The Aberdonian" in Wartime”, in Railway Magazine, page 9:
Synonyms of dainty
Forms of dainty
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | daintier |
| superlative | daintiest |
| Noun | |
| plural | dainties |
Origin of dainty
From Middle English deynte (as noun), from Old French deintié, from Latin dignitātem. Doublet of dignity.
Words formed from dainty
Questions about dainty
- What does dainty mean?
- Dainty means elegant; delicately small and pretty.
- What is dainty in Hindi?
- Dainty in Hindi is स्वादु (svādu). See Dainty meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use dainty in a sentence?
- However, with the dainty volume my quondam friend sprang into fame.
- What part of speech is dainty?
- Dainty can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce dainty?
- Dainty is pronounced /ˈdeɪnti/ (UK).
Words near dainty in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: dainty (page history and authors); स्वादु (Hindi) (page history and authors); dainty (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); dainty (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); dainty (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); मिष्ट (Sanskrit) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-dainty.wav.
Cite this entry: “dainty.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/dainty. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.