Twee?

[seaurchin]

I keep hearing this word lately and don't quite get what it means, even after looking it up online. I think that in general, it means sickeningly cute or something like that but I can't think of any examples.

Please post examples of "twee" here. Pics are welcome!

 

[ShinyPink]

I had to look it up, too. It's a British term, so I'm no help. I can't even guess what is sickeningly cute, unless they're talking about a super-duper cute puppy or similar.

 

[LilAlex]

I always hear it in the context of Wes Anderson films. I don't think of it as sickeningly sweet. None of the synonyms that popped up match what I'm looking for. Which means that somewhere there is a perfect Yiddish word for it -- or a sentence-length German compound adjective!

I think like "affectedly quaint/droll."

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

I keep hearing this word lately and don't quite get what it means, even after looking it up online. I think that in general, it means sickeningly cute or something like that but I can't think of any examples.

Please post examples of "twee" here. Pics are welcome!

i for one dont like it and dont use it
i often see Americans use it on the court jeweller (a site for royal jewellery watching)
it is a condersending term and not in the least bit complimentry usually to describe something that is small or perseveed as babyish

I had to look it up, too. It's a British term, so I'm no help. I can't even guess what is sickeningly cute, unless they're talking about a super-duper cute puppy or similar.

i am surprised this is a British word as i had never heard it before i started reading the comments on the court jeweller site as written by Americans
it is only ever used with negative conitations

it features pretty much near the top of words i dislike and never use

 

[kenny]

In addition to what you see below, if you go to the link and scroll down urbandictionary.com shows other meanings or uses.

Urban Dictionary: twee

Something that is sweet, almost to the point of being sickeningly so. As a derogatory descriptive, it means something that is affectedly dainty or quaint, or is way too sentimental. In American English it often refers to a type of simple sweet pop music, but in British English it is used much...

www.urbandictionary.com

I come across many unfamiliar words.
When not in a dictionary, I check UD, urban dictionary.

Note: UD also includes definitions that may be NSFW.

I think UD is like wikipedia in that the writers are you and me.
While I like that that makes it 'real' and current, though there are downsides to having no editor, publisher, or academic involvement.
IOW it's not quite as authoritative as, oh say, the OED.

 

[dk168]

Not a word that I would use, and don't hear it often.

DK

 

[Tartansparkles]

As a Scot I have heard the word but not often, it would be used in the context of old fashioned but not in a good way, so for example "the outfit was a bit twee" ie someone was trying a bit too hard or has gone over the top and result is not complimentary. Or it might be acceptable for a 90 year old lady to wear a classic 90 year old lady outfit but if a child was to wear the same outfit, that would be a bit twee.

 

[Ally T]

As a Scot I have heard the word but not often, it would be used in the context of old fashioned but not in a good way, so for example "the outfit was a bit twee" ie someone was trying a bit too hard or has gone over the top and result is not complimentary. Or it might be acceptable for a 90 year old lady to wear a classic 90 year old lady outfit but if a child was to wear the same outfit, that would be a bit twee.

Exactly this. I’m English & think I heard it more as a child than I do now at 50. It’s not an encouraging term!

 

[Starstruck8]

My father was the only person I know who used "twee" regularly. It was a put-down, similar in meaning to "a bit precious" and - his favourite - "How quaint!"

For background, he was born in Australia in the late 1920s. Like many educated Australians of his era, he looked to England as the source of all true culture. The "colonial cringe", as we now call it. This fits with what others have said, the phrase was old-fashioned and English.

It could be used for intolerably cutesy childish things, like children's books with cutesy anthropomorphic animals. But also, of things just cutesy without being childish, like pottery figurines of charming shepherdesses. Also, for prissy affectation in general, like holding one's teacup with one's little finger (my father would never have used the word "pinky") extended.

 

[Garnetgirl]

I heard “Twee” about 25 years ago, from some British friends of mine. They didn’t use it often, and no one else I know has ever used it.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

if iwas forced at gunpoint to use it (and i would not use it on jewellery) i would use it -and im sorry if im going to offend anyone -i have a piece or two left over from childhod somewhere around here
but
Wade Whimsies
- i remember having a monkey and the cat in the basket
this could be just me but i think that whimsie is a synonym of twee


oh Bu**er me !
i kind of want this one

 

[Karl_K]

twee?
As in he had to wee?

 

[Karl_K]

My first thought seeing the thread title was a little kid saying tree. lol

 

[lala646]

My father was the only person I know who used "twee" regularly. It was a put-down, similar in meaning to "a bit precious" and - his favourite - "How quaint!"

For background, he was born in Australia in the late 1920s. Like many educated Australians of his era, he looked to England as the source of all true culture. The "colonial cringe", as we now call it. This fits with what others have said, the phrase was old-fashioned and English.

It could be used for intolerably cutesy childish things, like children's books with cutesy anthropomorphic animals. But also, of things just cutesy without being childish, like pottery figurines of charming shepherdesses. Also, for prissy affectation in general, like holding one's teacup with one's little finger (my father would never have used the word "pinky") extended.

This would be how I summarize it as well.

 

[Bron357]

To me twee means uncomfortably or awkwardly out of place while trying to be “in place”. Like dressing twins who are older than 5 in identical clothing or wearing “too much” of something like wearing absolutely everything in say white including fingernails or all 27 of your necklaces at once. A Twee response would be “fake” exaggerated or inappropriate reaction to a known surprise ie receiving a gift or an award.

 

[monarch64]

I keep hearing this word lately and don't quite get what it means, even after looking it up online. I think that in general, it means sickeningly cute or something like that but I can't think of any examples.

Please post examples of "twee" here. Pics are welcome!

I only know the word as it relates to fashion. The twee aesthetic as I recall was very popular during the time fashion blogging really took off, around 2010. I remember lots of Anthropologie (the store/brand). Currently I see it called a couple different things, “cottagecore” being one of the more well-known ones.

(Twee really started in the 1980s, just noting.)

Zoey Deschanel’s wardrobe on The New Girl was “twee.”
There were a ton of bloggers on Tumblr back in the day (again, 2010s) sporting twee looks.

Twee

Twee is an aesthetic that first emerged in the 1980s as a reaction against the increasing harshness in the post-punk music scene.[1] The term derived from the British slang for "sweet," reflecting the aesthetic's emphasis on the delicate and a childlike innocence. Though the term became...

aesthetics.fandom.com

Unpacking the Twee Fashion Craze Taking Over TikTok

What do Zooey Deschanel, Miu Miu, and Wes Anderson have in common? An aesthetic piquing Gen Z’s interest.

www.vogue.com

Ah, those links are a trip down memory lane.

 

[monarch64]

Another brand was ModCloth. There were so many takes on it…I remember J.Crew pattern-mixing from the Jenna Lyons era and I would say that tied into twee. The statement necklaces over button downs and sweaters with jeans and flats or cutesy skirts seemed like a mix of twee and young professional. (I really miss that era!)

Trends are evolving so fast now due to social media and constant need for new content. The kids are reviving things that only happened 10-15 years ago whereas I, a cusper (right on genx/millenial overlap), remember not seeing trends reemerge until a good 15-20 years later.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

@monarch64 nice to see a more positive spin on twee, i was not expecting that