All 6 Uses of
coquette
in
Adam Bede
- and while her aunt was discoursing to him about the limited amount of milk that was to be spared for butter and cheese so long as the calves were not all weaned, and a large quantity but inferior quality of milk yielded by the shorthorn, which had been bought on experiment, together with other matters which must be interesting to a young gentleman who would one day be a landlord, Hetty tossed and patted her pound of butter with quite a self-possessed, coquettish air, slyly conscious that no turn of her head was lost.†
Chpt 7coquettish = casually playful in a way that arouses sexual interest of men
- Hetty dropped the prettiest little curtsy, and stole a half-shy, half-coquettish glance at him as she said, "Yes, thank you, sir."†
Chpt 7 *
- She liked to feel that this strong, skilful, keen-eyed man was in her power, and would have been indignant if he had shown the least sign of slipping from under the yoke of her coquettish tyranny and attaching himself to the gentle Mary Burge, who would have been grateful enough for the most trifling notice from him.†
Chpt 9
- The thought of Dinah's pale grave face and mild grey eyes, which the sight of the gown and cap brought with it, made it a laughable surprise enough to see them replaced by Hetty's round rosy cheeks and coquettish dark eyes.†
Chpt 20
- Of course, I know that, as a rule, sensible men fall in love with the most sensible women of their acquaintance, see through all the pretty deceits of coquettish beauty, never imagine themselves loved when they are not loved, cease loving on all proper occasions, and marry the woman most fitted for them in every respect—indeed, so as to compel the approbation of all the maiden ladies in their neighbourhood.†
Chpt 33
- So, through the rest of the walk, he claimed Adam's conversation for himself, and Hetty laid her small plots and imagined her little scenes of cunning blandishment, as she walked along by the hedgerows on honest Adam's arm, quite as well as if she had been an elegantly clad coquette alone in her boudoir.†
Chpt 30
Definitions:
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(1)
(coquette) a woman who is casually playful in a way that arouses sexual interest of men but does not imply serious flirtationCoquette is a French word that is similar to the word flirt. There are two primary differences:
- Coquette only refers to a woman whereas flirt can refer to either sex.
- To say someone is coquettish implies that she is just being playful and does not intend sexual relations with the man with whom she is interacting; whereas when a woman is described as flirting, the word does not indicate whether she is just being playful or she wants to instigate sexual relations.
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(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
Much more rarely, coquette can refer to a species of bird or to a city name.