winsome

English

WOTD – 16 June 2018

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English wynsom, winsom, winsome, winsum, wunsum (“beautiful; agreeable, gracious, pleasant; generous; of situations: favourable, propitious”), from Old English wynsum (“joyful, merry, pleasant; winsome”), from Proto-West Germanic *wunnjusam (“joyful”). By surface analysis, winne (“delight, joy, pleasure”) +‎ -some.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwɪn.səm/ or occasionally /ˈwɪnt.səm/

• Audio (Australia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪnsəm
• Hyphenation: win‧some

Adjective

winsome (comparative winsomer, superlative winsomest)

1. Charming, engaging, winning; inspiring approval and trust, especially if in an innocent manner.
   • 1847, Emily Brontë, chapter IX, in Wuthering Heights‎^[1]:

     […] lifting her winsome eyes to my face with that sort of look which turns off bad temper, even when one has all the right in the world to indulge it.

   • 1851 October, Jonathan Freke Slingsby [pseudonym; John Francis Waller], “Slingsby in Scotland. Part II.—Conclusion.”, in The Dublin University Magazine, a Literary and Political Journal, volume XXXVIII, number CCXXVI, Dublin: James McGlashan, 50 Upper Sackville-St.; London: W[illia]m S[omerville] Orr, →OCLC, stanza I, page 494:

     Will ye keep your troth to me, / Winsome Annie Ramsay? / Will ye keep your troth to me, / Winsome Annie Ramsay? / Will ye keep your troth to me? / My ain true luve will ye be? / Then meet me at the trysting tree, / Winsome Annie Ramsay.

   • 1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[Episode 13, Nausicaa]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC, part II [Odyssey], page 333:

     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.

   • 1923, Song Ong Siang, “The Ninth Decade (1899–1909): Second Part”, in One Hundred Years’ History of the Chinese in Singapore: […], London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, page 377:

     He [Ching Keng Lee] is a man of fine physique and above the height of the average Straits-born, with a shrewd business head, and affable and winsome manners, and continues to take a keen interest in public affairs.

   • 1961, David Alexander, “When the Rain Stops”, in Hangman’s Dozen, New York, N.Y.: Roy Publishers, →OCLC, page 216:

     The pink wallpaper of the nursery was decorated with a Noah's Ark of friendly lions and comical giraffes and winsome elephants.

   • 2025 April 24, Elizabeth Dias, Ruth Graham, quoting Sean W. Rowe, “After Pope Francis, Progressive Christians Feel Vulnerable”, in The New York Times‎^[2], New York City, retrieved 24 April 2025:

     “We have to begin to step up and communicate this message in ways that are winsome and compelling,” he added.

Derived terms

• unwinsome

Related terms

• winly
• winne
• winsomely
• winsomeness

Translations

charming, engaging, winning

• Bulgarian: привлекателен (bg) (privlekatelen), очарователен (bg) (očarovatelen)
• Catalan: encantador m
• Czech: podmanivý, okouzlující (cs), půvabný
• Dutch: innemend (nl)
• Finnish: valloittava (fi)
• Galician: encantador m
• Georgian: მიმზიდველი (mimzidveli), მომხიბლავი (momxiblavi)
• German: gewinnend (de)
• Greek: ελκυστικός (el) (elkystikós)
• Hungarian: elbűvölő (hu), bájos (hu), megnyerő (hu), megejtő (hu)
• Middle English: winsom, winsing
• Polish: ujmujący (pl)
• Portuguese: atraente (pt), encantador (pt)
• Russian: обая́тельный (ru) m (obajátelʹnyj)
• Spanish: encantador (es)

Further reading

• winsome (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Owenism