coquetryn.
/ˈkɒkᵻtri/, /ˈkəʊkᵻtri/, U.S. /ˈkoʊkətri/, /koʊˈkɛtri/ 1.
a. Playful and insincere flirtation; flirtatious behaviour. Also occasionally: the quality or state of being coquettish; flirtatious character.In early use perhaps with the implication of forwardness or audacity in a woman.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > flirtation or coquetry > [noun]
dalliancec1385
mirding1614
coquetry1656
gallanting1664
coquetting1690
flirting1710
flirtation1718
philandering1737
agacerie1787
carryings-on1909
vamping1918
1656 T. Blount Glossographia Coquetterie (Fr.), the prattle or twattle of a pert Gossip or Minx.
1697 J. Vanbrugh Provok'd Wife i. 5 Coquettry is one of the main ingredients in the natural Composition of a Woman.
a1704 T. Brown Satyr against Woman in Wks. (1707) I. i. 80 In vain, your Eyes with Coquetry you Arm.
1720 J. Gay Poems Several Occasions II. 293 Yet let not us their loose coquett'ry blame; Women of ev'ry nation are the same.
1817 W. Scott Rob Roy I. v. 105 If there was any coquetry in the action, it was well disguised by the careless indifference of her manner.
1865 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend II. iii. ix. 77 Bella's colour deepened over the little piece of coquetry she was checked in.
1933 B. Gadelius Human Mentality xii. 306 He revealed distinct traits of softness and coquetry. Before the separation he bequeathed all his possessions to a male lover.
2004 Observer (Nexis) 1 Aug. 12 She looks the part, and acts..it with wonderfully outrageous coquetry.
b. An instance of coquettish behaviour; a flirtatious act or remark. Also in extended use: a frivolous act or thing. Frequently in plural.
ΚΠ
1707 J. Crull tr. M.-C. d'Aulnoy Mem. Court Eng. ii. 475 I tell you, being almost reduc'd to Despair by her Coquetteries, I perceiv'd, as I told you before, that Emilia had given me the slip.
1755 E. Montagu Let. 10 Aug. (1813) III. 320 An old batchelor and an old maid after twenty coquetteries, promising eternal love and constancy.
1873 R. Browning Red Cotton Night-cap Country i. 45 The house-front..one coquetry Of coloured brick and carved stone!
1923 K. P. Harrington Catullus & his Infl. 36 The elegant manners and the genteel coquetries of the fascinatress.
2012 Spectator (Nexis) 11 Feb. 48 Far too coarse for the chaste coquetries the role requires.
2. figurative. Trifling or dalliance with a matter, cause, etc., without serious interest in it.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > inattention > mental wandering > light-mindedness > [noun] > in conduct
triflinga1382
dalliance1548
toying1559
legerity1561
dallyingc1680
flightiness1747
coquetry1753
1753 tr. L. A. de la Beaumelle Reflections 167 There is in politics a sort of coquetry.
1770 ‘Junius’ Stat Nominis Umbra (1772) II. xli. 120 There was much coquetry between the Court and the Attorney General.
1835 T. Carlyle Let. 2 Nov. in T. Carlyle & J. W. Carlyle Coll. Lett. (1981) VIII. 253 Life is no frivolity, or hypothetical coquetry or whifflery.
1921 Outlook 25 May 152/3 After considerable political coquetry, Dr. Wirth..formed a coalition Cabinet.
2020 La Croix Internat. (Nexis) 18 Nov. Historically, the Church always paid dearly for such coquetry.
3. With reference to art, music, nature, etc.: capricious, pleasing beauty; playfulness, lightness.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beauty > [noun]
wlitec825
faireOE
fairnessOE
fairlecc1225
fairheadc1300
fairshipc1300
forma1382
clearnessa1400
beautyc1405
delicacya1450
pulchritudea1460
speciositya1470
lovelinessa1500
beautifulnessc1500
formosityc1500
fairhood?1503
bewtynes?c1510
decorea1513
venusty1559
decorum1604
bellitude1623
beauteousnessa1631
loveliheada1637
decor1656
luculency1656
Venus1657
coquetry1794
beautyhood1832
glamour1840
society > leisure > entertainment > playfulness > [noun]
sportfulnessa1586
sportiveness1601
frolicknessa1617
gamesomeness1631
ludibundness1664
playfulness1673
playsomeness1676
friskiness1727
sportability1768
coquetry1794
toyfulness1838
larkiness1896
kittenishness1905
1794 U. Price Ess. Picturesque iv. 86 It is the coquetry of nature; it makes beauty more amusing, more varied, more playful.
1812 Catal. Exhib. Brit. Gallery of Pictures 22 The Altieri Claude, justly ranks as the noblest work of a consummate master..: here is neither the coquetry of nature nor of art.
1864 D. G. Mitchell Seven Stories 249 What a charming coquetry in the sheep and shepherdesses of Watteau.
1914 H. W. Ranger & R. H. Bell Art-talks with Ranger 21 Twinkling leaves, swaying boughs,..happy poise of cloud... They are the coquetry of Nature.
2017 Chicago Tribune 10 Nov. 3 Charm played little part in it [sc. the performance], not even in the coquetry of the violin solos.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2021).
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