minx
/mɪŋks/
minx noun: a flirtatious, impudent, or pert young woman. Also the obsolete spelling of mink.
Noun
minx (plural minxes)
- A flirtatious, impudent, or pert young woman.
- In an other corner, Mistris Minx, a marchants wife, that will eate no cherries, forsooth, but when they are at twentie shillings a pound, that lookes as simperingly as if she were besmeard, and iets it as gingerly as if she were dancing the canaries, […]1592, Thomas Nash[e], Pierce Penilesse His Supplication to the Deuill. […], London: […] [John Charlewood for] Richard Ihones, […], →OCLC
- How Huſſie! was there ever ſuch a provoking Minx?1695, [William] Congreve, Love for Love: A Comedy. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, Act II, scene iii, page 20
- A promiscuous woman; also, a mistress (“the other woman in an extramarital relationship”) or a prostitute.
- Well, yet at length the houre came that flattered him with grace, / Who all too haſtie hide him ſelfe to his appointed place. / Arrived there, a pretie minx (directed wel before) / Unto a lodging brought this lord, and locked faſt the dore. / When he was ſafe, awaye ſhe went, for joy Alberto hopt...1576, George Whetstone, “The Arbour of Vertue, […]”, in The Rocke of Regard, […], London: […] [H. Middleton] for Robert Waley, →OCLC; republished in J[ohn] P[ayne] Collier, editor, The Rocke of...
- [W]hat did you meane by that ſame handkercher, you gaue mee euen now? […] this is ſome minxes token, and I muſt take out the worke; there, giue it the hobby horſe, whereſoeuer you had it, I'le take out no worke on't.c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Tragœdy of Othello, the Moore of Venice. […] (First Quarto), London: […] N[icholas] O[kes] for Thomas Walkley, […], published 1622, →OCLC, [Act...
- Synonyms:
- bit on the side, concubine, doxy, dulcinea, goomah, leman, loon, mistress, number two, side bitch
- A pet dog.
- And of doggues there ben diuerſe ſortes mo then one: For ther be hariers, or buckhoundes, there by ſpanyels made to the hawke, or for taking of foule, ther be ſhepeherdes curres, there are tye dogges or maſtifes for keepinge of houſes, there ben litle minxes, or pupees that ladies keepe in their...1564 February, Erasmus, “The Saiynges of Diogenes the Cynike”, in Nicolas Udall [i.e., Nicholas Udall], transl., Apophthegmes, that is to Saie, Prompte, Quicke, Wittie and Sentẽcious Saiynges, […]...
Verb
minx (third-person singular simple present minxes, present participle minxing, simple past and past participle minxed)
- Used transitively when followed by it: to behave like a minx, that is, in a flirtatious and impudent manner.
- [He] knows the dress of every girl he meets— / In fact could cut you out the very plan, / Each article could name, and tell you every shade, / Whether adorning minxing miss or ancient maid!1861, [Dr. Milligan], “Flight the Fifth”, in Baal: Or, Sketches of Social Evils. A Poem, in Ten Flights, London: William Freeman, […], →OCLC, page 102
- Alison might have, if she hadn't minxed herself out of a job.2001 July, Alan Bissett, Damage Land: New Scottish Gothic Fiction, Edinburgh: Polygon, →ISBN, page 60
- To make (someone) like a minx; (intransitive) to become like a minx.
- Whether you're sipping fine bubbly from a crystal flute while having your nails minxed, or soaking in a heavenly milk bath, a visit to Miss Fox is your ticket to forget your worries and simply indulge.2012, Hide & Seek Melbourne 2, Prahran, Vic.: Explore Australia Publishing, →ISBN
Also used as
minx is also the obsolete spelling of mink.
Examples of minx in a sentence
- Hopkins says she is a dressed-up little minx who runs after all the young men in the parish; but really, from what I see and hear from other persons, I think she is a good girl enough.1859–1861, [Thomas Hughes], “The Long Vacation Letter-bag”, in Tom Brown at Oxford: […], part 2nd, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields...
- A widow with a child was at a disadvantage with these pretty little minxes, she thought.1936 June 30, Margaret Mitchell, chapter XVIII, in Gone with the Wind, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, published June 1944, →OCLC...
- Single, and generally on the make, she was alternatively an angel, a devil and a minx.1988, Barbara Delinsky, Commitments, New York, N.Y.; Boston, Mass.: Grand Central Publishing, published October 2012, →ISBN, page 69:
- Even the most outrageous minxes lose their nerve, wrestling with the first twinges of existential angst: fears of dying alone and being found three weeks later half-eaten by an Alsatian.1996, Helen Fielding, “Wednesday, 4 January”, in Bridget Jones’s Diary, London: Penguin Books, published 1999 (2010 printing), →ISBN:
Synonyms of minx
- bit on the side
- concubine
- goomah
- loon
- mistress
- number two
- side bitch
- side chick
- side piece
- side ting
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
- strumpet
- wifelet
- NB: All terms are usually pejorative unless stated otherwise.
- 304
- alley cat
- alleycat
- bop
- chippy
- cocotte
- cockslut
- cockwhore
- crumpet
- cum dumpster
- cum guzzler
- cumhole
- cumslut
- cumwhore
- demimondaine
- eager beaver
- Essex girl
- floogy
- floosie
- floosy
- floozie
- floozy
- fornicator
- fornicatress
- fornicatrix
- fuckstress
- geebag
Forms of minx
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | minxes |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | minxes |
| present participle | minxing |
| past participle | minxed |
| past | minxed |
Origin of minx
PIE word *ǵʰmṓ The origin of the noun is uncertain. The following possible derivations have been suggested: * A variation of minikin (“(obsolete) young person, especially a young woman; small or insignificant person, thing, or amount”) + a variation of -s (suffix forming hypocoristic nouns (nicknames)) (compare minckins, a variant of minikin). * From Dutch mens, mensch (“human being, person; (derogatory, informal) woman”) (obsolete), Middle Dutch minsc, minsce, minsch; or from German Low German minsch, minsk, Middle Low German minsche (“hussy, wench”), all ultimately from Proto-Germanic *manniskaz (“human”, adjective), from *mann- (“human being, person; man”) (possibly from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰmṓ (“earthling”), *men- (“to mind; to think; spiritual activity”), or *mon- (“human being; man”)) + *-iskaz (suffix meaning ‘characteristic of, pertaining to’ forming adjectives). The verb is derived from the noun.
A variant of mink.
Words formed from minx
Words that rhyme with minx
Questions about minx
- What does minx mean?
- Minx means a flirtatious, impudent, or pert young woman.
- How do you use minx in a sentence?
- Hopkins says she is a dressed-up little minx who runs after all the young men in the parish; but really, from what I see and hear from other persons, I think she is a good girl enough.
- What part of speech is minx?
- Minx can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce minx?
- Minx is pronounced /mɪŋks/ (UK).
- What is the plural of minx?
- The plural of minx is minxes.
Words near minx in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: minx (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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-minx.wav.
Cite this entry: “minx.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/minx. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.