Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Relating to or suggestive of an elf.
- adj. Made, done, or produced by an elf.
- adj. Small and sprightly or mischievous.
- adj. Having a magical quality or charm; fairylike: moved across the dimly lit stage with elfin grace.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. An elf; an inhabitant of fairy-land: in Spenser applied to his knights.
- n. A little urchin or child.
- n. Synonyms See fairy, n.
- Relating or pertaining to elves.
- n. An American lycænid butterfly of the genus Incisalia.
Wiktionary
- n. An elf; an inhabitant of fairy-land.
- n. A little urchin or child.
- adj. Relating to or resembling an elf, especially in its tiny size or features.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Relating to elves.
- n. A little elf or urchin.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. usually good-naturedly mischievous
- adj. relating to or made or done by or as if by an elf
- adj. small and delicate
- adj. suggestive of an elf in strangeness and otherworldliness
Etymologies
- Partly from attributive use of Etymology 1, but reanalysed by Spenser as if equivalent to elf + -en. (Wiktionary)
- Probably from Middle English elvene, pl. of elve, elf, from Old English -elfen (as in wuduelfen, dryad). (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“They were having a glorious time and their gay voices and gayer laughter echoed up and down the valley, dying away in elfin cadences among the trees.”
“Dacrycarpus imbricatus and Leptospermum flavescens are also abundant in these forests, which because of their smaller stature are called elfin forests.”
“Roger Ferguson, then Fed vice chairman, described Greenspan at that January meeting as "the monetary policy Yoda," referring to the elfin guru in the movie "Star Wars.”
“Chaparral, also called the elfin forest, survives in hot, dry conditions and features plants that have thick leaves to minimize water loss and animals that have thick fur to protect them from rough undergrowth.”
“Paul, however, had a kind of elfin blond sparkle to him.”
“First up, David J. Nightingale's "elfin" shot of his daughter, which was voted one of the most Noteworthy Shots for 2004 on Photo Friday.”
“I always was thickset, "elfin" was never a possibility.”
“Medium height, the kind of face they called "elfin," with slanted ash-gray eyes and a bob of shoulder-length chrome-white hair.”
“The adjectives "elfin" and "colossal" seldom keep company together, but this instance marks a grand exception; it is a monkeyshine of unprecedented scale.”
“In spite of Justine's feminine graces, he had formerly felt in her a kind of elfin immaturity, as of a flitting Ariel with untouched heart and senses: it was only of late that she had developed the subtle quality which calls up thoughts of love.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘elfin’.
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Fairylike
fairylike, enchanted, pixieish, pixyish, impish, mischievous, fluttery, magical, bewitching, enchanting, fey, otherworldly and 126 more...
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fairytale words
any words which evoke a sense of childplay and fairytales!
unicorn, penchant, whimsy, folly, dastardly, pixie, sylph, kelpie, petticoat, elfin, fey, dandelion
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Small stuff
Adjectives that describe small objects.
small, tiny, diminutive, little, dinky, itsy-bitsy, itty-bitty, teeny, bitsy, bitty, bantam, teensy and 23 more...
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♥
ambrosia, inamorata, gossamer, lily-white, hummingbird, roucoulement, poppy, daisy, calypso, lunula, lamb, dove and 1526 more...
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Real words that I love
Words that make me happy in my pants AND have a place in the dictionary.
enervate, efficacious, basilisk, minotaur, elfin, elephantine, schadenfreude, enigma, emasculate, acidic, appalling, ridiculous and 102 more...
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the most beautiful
velvet, wainwright, susurrous, nutmeg, pegasus, tintinnabular, gossamer, lyricism, rococo, townlet, prince, nymph and 139 more...
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Human Nature
unfinished, dissemble, dissembler, elfin, moxie, fortitude, callow, caprice, capricious, cognitive dissonance, calumny
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It's a Lepidopteran
Names of butterflies and moths that I find interesting, and terms associated with citizens of Lepidoptera.
Here are elfins, satyrs and wood-nymphs ruled by some sovereign such as an em...clearwing, whitespot, miller, underwing, lettuce-shark, owlet, gamma, fanfoot, mason moth, mought, goldtail, noctuid and 132 more...
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katiefallwest's Words
facetious, hallows, snarky, literati, cantankerous, gryphon, esoteric, fortuitous, impetus, ubiquitous, muggle, colour and 144 more...
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stpeter's Words
abase, abasement, abashed, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abhorrent, abide, abject, ablation, abnegation and 3536 more...
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librarygoblin's words
crystal, ghost, mist, snow, labyrinth, citadel, tomb, mystery, arcane, conundrum, echo, dynamo and 389 more...
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roseandivy's list
mooncalf, wonted, gibbet, artless, noontide, blithe, glitterati, vorpal, soporific, moxie, pilfer, betwixt and between and 263 more...
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Wrapped up in books
I'm reading books. And there are words and phrases I come upon for the first time, or that are used with usages that are new to me.
So, this is just a plain list of those words. Don't expect ...hobble, mackerel, crone, cavort, hoyden, rheumy, scatter, hiss, recoil, trundle, shatter, flaxen and 200 more...
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Words I just like
hobbitry, obfuscate, moribund, bally, idleness, ale, lostwithiel, elfin, spiffing, wayfaring, methinks, abstruse and 123 more...
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Ada, or Ardor ~Vladmir Nabokov
granoblastically, cicerone, aerocable, anachronistically, parvis, athwart, mnemonic, squitteroo, nusshaus, edelweiss, intermezzo, cabriole and 183 more...
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snowygal18's Words
faffle, ninja, cabbage, frolic, elf, elfin, plethora, onus, word, gallic, fantastic, germanic and 2 more...
Tweets
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