Synonyms for waif

Grammar : Noun

Spell : weyf

Phonetic Transcription : weɪf

Top 10 synonyms for waif

Other synonyms for the word waif

Définition of waif

Origin : late 14c., "unclaimed property, flotsam, stray animal," from Anglo-Norm. waif, gwaif (early 13c.) "ownerless property," probably from a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse veif "waving thing, flag," from Proto-Germanic *waif-, from PIE *weip- "to turn, vacillate, tremble ecstatically" (see vibrate). Cf. Medieval Latin waivium "thing thrown away by a thief in flight." A Scottish/northern English parallel form was wavenger (late 15c.).
Meaning "person (especially a child) without home or friends" first attested 1784, from legal phrase waif and stray (1620s). Neglected children being uncommonly thin, the word tended toward this sense. Connotations of "fashionable, small, slender woman" began 1991 with application to childishly slim supermodels, e.g. Kate Moss.

noun lost or unclaimed person or thing

Example sentences :

I am such a waif and stray everywhere, that I am liable to be drifted where any current may set.'
Extract from : « Little Dorrit » by Charles Dickens

Sitting in the sheets, I turned over in my mind all that this waif had said.
Extract from : « Micah Clarke » by Arthur Conan Doyle

When he took refuge in the Vatican he must have been clinging to some waif and stray of hope.
Extract from : « The Eternal City » by Hall Caine

Edwin said she should be called Waif, and Waif she was ever after called in that house.
Extract from : « Our Young Folks at Home and Abroad » by Various

Mrs. Barry bit her lip and did not love the waif the more that she had been able to defend her.
Extract from : « In Apple-Blossom Time » by Clara Louise Burnham

My waif was curled up in my kimono, feeding my fan-tailed goldfish.
Extract from : « Jane Journeys On » by Ruth Comfort Mitchell

I have become a rover and a waif, and I feel as lighthearted as a boy.
Extract from : « No Surrender! » by G. A. Henty

My husband told me all about your help and your kindness to our Waif.
Extract from : « We Two » by Edna Lyall

Waif, who was slowly recovering, grew pathetically fond of his rescuer.
Extract from : « We Two » by Edna Lyall

Meanwhile we has a good chance to inspect this waif that's been sort of wished on us.
Extract from : « Torchy, Private Sec. » by Sewell Ford

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Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019