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

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

twee (comparative more twee or tweer, superlative most twee or tweest)

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

   Synonyms: (US) cutesy, precious, saccharine, syrupy

   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^[1], 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^[2], 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.

• twee pop

twee (uncountable)

1. (music) Ellipsis of twee pop.
   • 2005 October 24, Nitsuh Abebe, “Twee as Fuck”, in Pitchfork‎^[3]:

     Even the wider world got its doses of twee sound, from the fluffy pop of Aztec Camera to the stylish bounce of the Railway Children.

   • 2022 January 25, katie tobin, quoting Ian Wang, “Clutch Your Pearls, the Indie Twee Aesthetic is Back”, in Vice‎^[4]:

     Wang points out the very clear links between twee and queer culture, as many 90s twee bands “played alongside queercore bands like Team Dresch. […] ”

• ewte, weet

• twé (obsolete)

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

• IPA^(key): /tvɪə̯/, /tveə/

• Audio:

  (file)

twee

1. two

• weet

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

• IPA^(key): /tʋeː/

• Audio (Belgium):

  (file)

• Audio (Netherlands):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: twee
• Rhymes: -eː

twee

1. two

• Afrikaans: twee
• Berbice Creole Dutch: twe
• Jersey Dutch: tweî, twî
• Negerhollands: twee, twe
• Skepi Creole Dutch: twe
• → Trió: tuwei_me

twee f (plural tweeën, diminutive tweetje n)

1. two

• weet
• wete

• twei (Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch)

From Middle Low German twê, from Old Saxon twene (“two”).

twee

1. two

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

• IPA^(key): /tweː/

twêe

1. two

• Dutch: twee
• Limburgish: twei, twieë
• Zealandic: tweê

• “twee”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E., Verdam, J. (1885–1929) “twee”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN

From Middle Low German twê, from Old Saxon twene (“two”).

twee

1. two, twain

twee

1. Alternative form of twye

• Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 73