twee

From a childish pronunciation of sweet. The Oxford English Dictionary records the first use in 1905 in Punch.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /twiː/
• Rhymes: -iː

twee (comparative more twee, superlative most twee)

1. (Britain, derogatory) Overly quaint, dainty, cute or nice.

   Those Beatrix Potter animals are a little twee for my taste.

   • 1999, Janet Foster, Docklands: Urban Change and Conflict in a Community in Transition, London; Philadelphia, Pa.: UCL Press, →ISBN, page 82:

     Despite the fact that the designs were all a bit twee […] they stood out a mile in the market place at that time.

   • 2001, Alan Murphy, Scotland Highlands & Islands Handbook: The Travel Guide, Bath, Somerset: Footprint Handbooks, →ISBN, page 11:

     Forget the clichéd image of Brigadoon and shortbread tins, the dreadfully twee tartan tat and Celtic kitsch that, sadly, still exists in the 21st century, and is too often passed off as a genuine Highland experience.

   • 2002, Peter Ellison, Essential Non-fiction, Dublin: Folens Publishers, →ISBN, page 40:

     As always with Disney, there are moments when it all seems a bit twee, others when it is excessively PC.

   • 2005 September 8, Stephen S. Hall, quoting Richard Dawkins, “Darwin's Rottweiler: Sir Richard Dawkins: Evolution's fiercest champion, far too fierce”, in Discover‎, archived from the original on 1 January 2016:

     I just wouldn’t have felt comfortable saying, "I am a duckbilled platypus, and this is how I find my shrimps." I think it would have been twee.

   • 2015 June 2, Kenneth Partridge, “With ‘West End Girls,’ Pet Shop Boys set a high standard for U.K. hip-hop”, in The A.V. Club‎, archived from the original on 6 September 2015:

     [Neil] Tennant's accent obviously has a lot to do with that, but the fact he's rapping is further masked by his twee, effeminate delivery.

• precious
• saccharine
• syrupy

• twee pop

• ewte, weet

From Dutch twee, from Middle Dutch twee, twe, from Old Dutch twē, neuter form of twēne, from Proto-Germanic *twai, from Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁.

• IPA^(key): /tvɪə̯/, /tveə/

twee

1. two

• weet

• IPA^(key): /tʋeː/

• audio (Belgium)

  (file)

• audio (Netherlands)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: twee
• Rhymes: -eː

From Middle Dutch twêe, from Old Dutch twē, neuter form of twēne, from Proto-Germanic *twai, from Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁.

twee

1. two

• tweebaans
• tweehonderd
• tweetal
• tweetalig
• tweetallig
• tweebenig‎

• Afrikaans: twee

twee f (plural tweeën, diminutive tweetje n)

1. two

• weet
• wete

twee

1. two

From Old Dutch twē, neuter form of twēne, from Proto-Germanic *twai, from Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁.

• IPA^(key): /tweː/

twêe

1. two

• Dutch: twee
• Limburgish: twei, twieë

• “twee”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• “twee”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, 1929

twee

1. two, twain