English▸ adjective
( daintier, daintiest)
1 delicately small and pretty:
a dainty lace handkerchief
the china cup seemed too dainty in his large hands.
▪ (of a person) delicate and graceful in build or movement:
he is one of the daintiest players in the game.
▪ (of food) particularly good to eat and served in a small portion:
a dainty morsel.
– ORIGIN Middle English (as noun): from Old French daintie, deintie ‘choice morsel, pleasure’, from Latin dignitas ‘worthiness or beauty’, from dignus ‘worthy’.