coquetry
Artful romantic manipulation
Coquetry is flirtatious behavior, especially when playful or teasing rather than serious.
The word suggests calculated charm—batting eyelashes, coy glances, witty deflections: Her coquetry kept suitors guessing.
It can describe any artful attempt to attract attention or interest: the coquetry of fashion advertisements.
The tone is slightly old-fashioned, evoking drawing rooms more than dating apps.
Affectedly modest
- winkBrief one-eyed closure
- banterPlayful, teasing exchange
- simperCoy, foolish smile
- giggleSoft, silly vocalization
dalliance · tease · smirk · ogling · sashay · minx · vamp · flounce
Romantic pursuit of another
- suitorOne who seeks affection
- admirerOne who esteems another
- beauMale romantic companion
- pursuitAct of chasing something
gallantry · attentions · conquest · paramour · tryst · liaison · rendezvous · advances
Something that attracts
- allureAttractive, tempting quality
- temptationUrge toward the unwise
- lureThing that tempts
- beguilementCharming manipulation of attention
captivation · enchantment · bewitchment · siren · tantalizing · beguile · entice · ensnare
Playful, capricious quality
- lightheartednessCheerful lack of worry
- mischiefPlayful troublesome behavior
- teasingPlayful, mild ridicule
- frivolityUnserious, lighthearted conduct
caprice · impishness · gamesome · sportiveness · merriment · levity · jest · roguish
Words with suggestive second meaning
- suggestiveHinting at impropriety
- insinuationIndirect, usually negative suggestion
- hintIndirect suggestion
- subtextImplicit meaning beneath words
risqué · veiled · oblique · sly · nudge · undertone · implication · loaded
Effortless beauty of motion
- eleganceRefined, graceful quality
- poiseGraceful, unshakable calm
- sophisticationCultured elegance and complexity
- winsomeSweetly charming
beguiling · charisma · magnetism · appeal · attractiveness · fascination · glamour · radiance
coy
Affectedly modest
giggle · dalliance · tease · smirk · ogling · sashay · minx · vamp · flounce · prance
wooing
Romantic pursuit of another
pursuit · gallantry · attentions · conquest · paramour · tryst · liaison · rendezvous · advances · pursuit
enticement
Something that attracts
- allureAttractive, tempting quality
- temptationUrge toward the unwise
- lureThing that tempts
beguilement · captivation · enchantment · bewitchment · siren · tantalizing · beguile · entice · ensnare · spellbinding
whimsy
Playful, capricious quality
- lightheartednessCheerful lack of worry
- mischiefPlayful troublesome behavior
- teasingPlayful, mild ridicule
frivolity · caprice · impishness · gamesome · sportiveness · merriment · levity · jest · roguish · sprightly
double-entendre
Words with suggestive second meaning
- suggestiveHinting at impropriety
- insinuationIndirect, usually negative suggestion
- hintIndirect suggestion
subtext · risqué · veiled · oblique · sly · nudge · undertone · implication · loaded · ambiguous
grace
Effortless beauty of motion
- eleganceRefined, graceful quality
- poiseGraceful, unshakable calm
- sophisticationCultured elegance and complexity
winsome · beguiling · charisma · magnetism · appeal · attractiveness · fascination · glamour · radiance · engaging
- seductionseduction, seductive, allure, beguilement, enticement
- allureattraction, attract, magnetism, charisma, attractiveness
- horseplayroughhousing, hijinks, antics, horseplay, clowning around
- affairsaffairs, affair, foreign affairs, current affairs, world affairs
- femininitygracefulness, gentleness, softness, dainty, delicate
- wileswiles, guile, cunning, craftiness, slyness
coquetrytrue devotion
earnestness · sincerity · true love · faithfulness · constancy
coquetrydirectness
Quality of being straightforward
forthrightness · bluntness · candor · straightforwardness · frankness
coquetrymodesty
Absence of vanity
reserve · demureness · reticence · prudishness · propriety
coquette, coquettish, coquettishly, coquet, coquettes, coquettishness