coquetry \KOH-ki-tree; koh-KE-tree\, noun:
Dalliance; flirtation.
Coquetry, French coquetterie, is from coquette,
the feminine form of French coquet, "flirtatious man,"
diminutive of coq, "rooster, cock."
The adjective form is coquettish.
The verb coquet (also coquette) means "to flirt or trifle with."
"'You were probably very bored by it,' he said, catching at once, in mid-air, this ball of coquetry that she had thrown to him." -- Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina
"Her pose, quite natural for a woman of the East, might perhaps in a Frenchwoman, have suggested a slightly affected coquetry." -- Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo
"Madame coquetted with him in the most captivating and naive manner, with eyes, gestures, and a profusion of compliments, till the Colonel's old head felt thirty years younger on his padded shoulders. Edna marveled, not comprehending. She herself was almost devoid of coquetry." -- Kate Chopin, The Awakening
* * *
Remember your first naive dalliance with flirtation?
You can't forget the first tingling of butterflies in your stomach when you caught the cutest boy's eye from across the Elmer's glue and red heart-shaped doilies. Your girlfriends crowded around the hopscotch at recess, encircling you and excitedly debating whether he would proclaim his love for you ... or lose his nerve. Then the bell would ring, signaling that you were about to find out.
Sitting back down in your seat, you placed your pink paper-covered Kleenex box at the edge of your desk. You would see him walk gingerly toward it, while your girlfriends fought to hold back squeals, and you would catch his eye again, but this time bat your lashes coyly.
And this time, he smiles back, and shyly offers a construction paper heart:
"Be Mine".
Bring back the butterflies of those innocent days with the season's ubiquitous coquetteish trends. Get the Look!
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