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Webster 1913 Edition

Winsome

Win′some

,
Adj.
[
Com
par.
Winsomer
;
sup
erl.
Winsomest
.]
[AS.
wynsum
, fr.
wynn
joy; akin to OS.
wunnia
, OHG.
wunna
,
wunni
, G.
wonne
, Goth.
wunan
to rejoice (in un
wunands
sad), AS.
wunian
to dwell. [GREEK][GREEK][GREEK][GREEK]. See
Win
,
Verb.
T.
,
Wont
,
Adj.
]
1.
Cheerful; merry; gay; light-hearted.
Misled by ill example, and a
winsome
nature.
Jeffrey.
2.
Causing joy or pleasure; gladsome; pleasant.
Still plotting how their hungry ear
That
winsome
voice again might hear.
Emerson.

Definition 2024

winsome

winsome

English

Adjective

winsome ‎(comparative winsomer, superlative winsomest)

  1. Charming, winning, engaging; inspiring trust and approval, especially if in an innocent manner.
    His bedside manner was especially winsome.
    • 1922, James Joyce, Ulysses Chapter 13
      Gerty MacDowell who was seated near her companions, lost in thought, gazing far away into the distance was, in very truth, as fair a specimen of winsome Irish girlhood as one could wish to see.

Derived terms

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Translations

Etymology

From Middle English, from Old English wynsum ‎(“winsome, pleasant, joyful, merry”), from Proto-Germanic *wunisamaz ‎(“joyful”), from *wunjō ‎(“joy, delight, desire”), from Proto-Indo-European *wun-, *wenh₁- ‎(“to wish, love”), equivalent to winne +‎ -some. Cognate with Scots winsome, wunsome ‎(“charming, comely, pleasing”), Middle High German wunnesam ‎(“winsome, joyful, delightful”), Old English wynn ‎(“joy, rapture, pleasure, delight”), German Wonne ‎(“bliss, delight, joy”). More at winne, winly.

Pronunciation

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