cute

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Pretty and attractive, especially in a small, sweet way.

   They adopted a cute little puppy from the shelter.

2. 2
   adj

   Sexually attractive or good-looking (informal).

   She thinks the new guy at work is really cute.

3. 3
   adj

   Trying too hard to be charming or clever, in an annoying way.

   Don't get cute with me; just answer the question.

Aphetic form of acute, originally meaning “keenly perceptive or discerning, shrewd” (1731). Meaning transferred to “pretty, fetching” by US students (slang) c. 1834. Meaning drifted further to describe the pleasing attraction to features usually possessed by the young.

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