Thomas Chandler Haliburton
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The Unlikely Evolution of Cute
Cute is a word whose meaning has gone a thorough historical transformation. There is no argument about cute’s derivation: it is a shortening of acute (and was sometimes actually spelled ‘cute). Acute has meant “clever, shrewd” since Shakespeare’s time and has had a set of other meanings as well, but it has never been defined as “attractive or pretty.” The contraction cute first appears in the early 18th century, but only a century later does it begin to take on its distinctive modern meaning; even after 1900 children were still being called cute as a compliment to their intelligence. (Compare the contemporaneous word cunning, with its strikingly similar ambiguity.) A few years into the century, we start to see the word—finally!—in descriptions of puppies and kittens. But the original sense hasn’t completely vanished; in such sentences as “Don’t get cute with me,” cute has nothing to do with adorable sweetness.
Examples of cute in a Sentence
Charlotte Observer, 7 May 2026
Director Kyle Balda serves up a cup of comfort and joy with his pleasant, cozy British mystery, a creature feature charmer where cute talking animatronic sheep hoof it about a quaint little village to figure out who slew their genial shepherd George (Hugh Jackman).
—Randy Myers, Mercury News, 7 May 2026
Thanks to its explosive popularity, there are so many chic Pilates-ready options out there these days; even the grippy socks are getting cute.
—Jake Henry Smith, Glamour, 7 May 2026
Rubin plays the cute and innocent Dottie, Cary and Luis’ younger child, who remains largely quiet amid the family’s chaos but picks her moments to chime in with the unwitting comedic timing only a small child can have.
—Matt Grobar, Deadline, 6 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for cute
Cite this Entry
“Cute.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cute. Accessed 11 May. 2026.
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