noun
coquette
koh-KET/kəʊˈket/
A woman who playfully seeks romantic attention.
The novel’s coquette encouraged several admirers.
Etymology
The rooster plus diminutive gives the image of a “little cock.” Its strut or lust supplied the figurative comparison for a flirt, with coquette becoming the feminine form.
In context
she was quite the Coquette evidently as a young woman
More examples
- The actor played a witty coquette.
- The portrait presented her as a fashionable coquette.
- The story challenged the assumption that every charming woman was a coquette.
Forms
coquette · coquettes
Similar words
- flirt
- Flirt can describe a person of any gender; coquette traditionally labels a woman who seeks romantic attention.
- charmer
- A charmer attracts people through personality; coquette specifically suggests flirtatious behavior.