coquettish

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   playfully flirtatious in a way intended to attract attention without showing serious romantic intent

   She gave him a coquettish smile and turned back to her friends.

Formed in the late seventeenth century from coquette + -ish. Coquette came from French, the feminine of coquet, a diminutive of coq ("rooster"); the image is of strutting or displaying oneself to attract attention.

Topics

External links

• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary
• Google Images