winsome
adjective
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Winsome comes from Old English wynn, meaning "joy" or "pleasure," which was altered in spelling to win (with the same meaning). That win is obsolete and is unrelated to today's win—referring to victory and coming from Old English winnan, "to struggle, suffer, or acquire." The adjective winning, meaning "tending to please or delight," as in "a winning smile" or "winning ways," is believed to be from the victorious win.
Synonyms
Examples of winsome in a Sentence
Nico Lang, Rolling Stone, 14 Oct. 2024
Olsen vests Christina with the winsome energy of a hummingbird—vibrating with all her might is what holds her together.
—Stephanie Zacharek, TIME, 6 Sep. 2024
Its first six-episode arc (of a twelve-episode season) largely separates the core four, losing much of the winsome rapport that defined 2023’s Mutant Mayhem.
—Angie Han, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 Aug. 2024
Amsterdam’s Jordaan district, within the central ring of canals but traditionally a quiet residential area, is now frequented by selfie-snapping visitors — many of them drawn by rapturous descriptions on social media of the neighborhood’s winsome domesticity.
—Laura King, Los Angeles Times, 11 Aug. 2024
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These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'winsome.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Winsome.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/winsome. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.
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winsome
adjective
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