adj
winsome
Winsome (adj) means Pleasant and appealing in a sweet, innocent way that makes people like and trust someone.
adj
1
Pleasant and appealing in a sweet, innocent way that makes people like and trust someone.
"“We have to begin to step up and communicate this message in ways that are winsome and compelling,” he added."
— Elizabeth Dias, After Pope Francis, Progressive Christians Feel Vulnerable (2025)
"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."
— James Joyce, [Episode 13, Nausicaa] (1922)
"The pink wallpaper of the nursery was decorated with a Noah's Ark of friendly lions and comical giraffes and winsome elephants."
— David Alexander, When the Rain Stops (1961)
Vocabulary Flow
Build your vocabulary from words like winsome.
Vocabulary Flow serves the next word, and the next — meaning, pronunciation and an example each time. Practice at your level, or learn English in your own language.
Start vocabulary practice
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English wynsom, winsom, winsome, winsum, wunsum (“beautiful; agreeable, gracious, pleasant; generous; of situations: favourable, propitious”), which came from Old English wynsum (“joyful, merry, pleasant; winsome”), from Proto-West Germanic *wunnjusam (“joyful”). Analysed on the surface, it is winne (“delight, joy, pleasure”) plus -some.
Antonyms
Related words
Rhymes for winsome
See all rhymes for winsome →Frequently asked questions
What is the meaning of winsome?
"winsome" (adj) means pleasant and appealing in a sweet, innocent way that makes people like and trust someone.
What is the opposite of winsome?
The opposite of "winsome" is plain.
