coquetry

English

WOTD – 12 April 2007

Alternative forms

• coquettery

Etymology

From French coquetterie.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒkɪtɹi/, /ˈkəʊkətɹi/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈkoʊkətɹi/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

coquetry (countable and uncountable, plural coquetries)

1. Coquettish behaviour; actions designed to excite erotic attention, without intending to reciprocate such feelings (chiefly of women towards men); flirtatious teasing.
   • 1791 (date written), Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: With Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], published 1792, →OCLC:

     With a lover […] her sensibility will naturally lead her to endeavour to excite emotion, not to gratify her vanity, but her heart. This I do not allow to be coquetry, it is the artless impulse of nature […]

2. (countable) An act constituting such behaviour; an affectation of amorous interest or enticement, especially of a woman directed towards a man.
   • 1882, Louisa M. Alcott, Kitty's Class Day And Other Stories‎^[1]:

     The little coquetries, which are as natural to a gay young girl as her laughter, were all in full play, and had she gone no further no harm would have been done.

   • 1910, Geraldine Bonner, The Emigrant Trail‎^[2]:

     The mischievous pleasure of her coquetries was forgotten, and in a rush of glad confidence she felt a woman's pride in him.

   • 1913, Carolyn Wells, Patty's Social Season‎^[3]:

     "Her pretty little coquetries are like the gambols of a kitten.

Quotations

• For more quotations using this term, see Citations:coquetry.

Synonyms

• flirtation

Translations

affectation of amorous tenderness

• Arabic: دَلَال m (dalāl)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 風騷／风骚 (zh) (fēngsāo), 媚態／媚态 (zh) (mèitài), 嬌態／娇态 (zh) (jiāotài)

• Finnish: keimailu (fi), flirttailu (fi)
• French: coquetterie (fr) f, coquetisme m
• Galician: coquetería f
• German: Koketterie (de) f
• Greek: ακκισμός (el) m (akkismós), νάζι (el) n (názi)
• Hebrew: התיפות (hityafot)
• Hindi: अदा (hi) (adā), इश्वा (iśvā), ग़म्ज़ा (ġamzā)
• Japanese: 媚態 (ja) (びたい, bitai), 嬌態 (ja) (きょうたい, kyōtai)
• Persian: ادا (fa) (adâ), عشوه (fa) ('ešve), کرشمه (fa) (kerešme)
• Russian: коке́тство (ru) n (kokétstvo)
• Spanish: coquetería (es) f
• Turkish: naz (tr), cilve (tr), işve (tr), eda (tr)
• Urdu: ادا (adā)

References

• “coquetry”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “coquetry”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.