Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A girl or young woman who is considered to be impudent or very flirtatious.
  • noun Obsolete A promiscuous woman.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A pert girl; a hussy; a jade; a baggage.
  • noun A female puppy.
  • noun Same as mink.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A pert or a wanton girl.
  • noun obsolete A she puppy; a pet dog.
  • noun (Zoöl.), obsolete The mink; -- called also minx otter.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A pert, flirtatious or impudent young woman.
  • noun obsolete A mink.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a seductive woman who uses her sex appeal to exploit men

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Probably from obsolete mynx, playful little dog, perhaps from alteration of obsolete Dutch minneken, darling; see minikin.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Perhaps from Middle Low German minsk ("wench, hussy")

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

See mink.

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Examples

  • She was persuaded the minx was a sly one, and would carry tales.

    St. George and St. Michael George MacDonald 1864

  • She was persuaded the minx was a sly one, and would carry tales.

    St. George and St. Michael Volume I George MacDonald 1864

  • _Fouines_, a quadruped known as the minx or mink, _Mustela vison_.

    Voyages of Samuel De Champlain — Volume 03 Samuel de Champlain 1601

  • I was alive because Sonsee-array fancied me and was grateful-and also because she was just the kind of minx to enjoy flouting tribal convention by marrying a foreigner.

    Isabelle Estelle Bruno 2010

  • I was alive because Sonsee-array fancied me and was grateful-and also because she was just the kind of minx to enjoy flouting tribal convention by marrying a foreigner.

    Flashman and The Redskins Fraser, George MacDonald, 1925- 1982

  • I was alive because Sonsee-array fancied me and was grateful-and also because she was just the kind of minx to enjoy flouting tribal convention by marrying a foreigner.

    Flashman And The Redskins Fraser, George MacDonald, 1925- 1982

  • It is to be feared that "minx" was the only right word for Joan

    The Summons 1906

  • The 'minx' shook her curls, and flirted through the window with a handsome but ill-tempered looking man on a fine horse, who praised her 'golden locks,' as he called them; and oddly enough, when Melchior said that the man was a lout, and that the locks in question were corkscrewy carrot shavings, she only seemed to like the man and his compliments the more.

    In the Yule-Log Glow, Book II Christmas Tales from 'Round the World 1902

  • Marks continued by saying, in confidence, and 'quite as between you and me, dear Mary Grace', that Miss Wilkes was a 'minx'.

    Father and Son: a study of two temperaments Edmund Gosse 1888

  • The "minx" had lost her colour, and, for the moment, her prettiness.

    Sir George Tressady — Volume II Humphry Ward 1885

Comments

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  • usu. a younger woman. can also be a verb: 'I minxed him shamelessly'

    April 11, 2009

  • 1. A flirtatious young woman, probably a bit sassy and provocative, perhaps promiscuous. 2. A young woman who is a ruthless social climber, willing to use all her wiles including her sexuality to fulfill her ambition. 3. A prostitute. (OED)

    July 11, 2009

  • "one day...

    not ready yet, not ready yet

    one day...

    there's a little minx

    should I ply her with drinks?

    NO!"

    -Paedogeddon

    ETA: PAGING BEST OF WEIRDNET

    July 11, 2009

  • Added to BoW since the standard wrong definition is not mitigated by the standard sort of correct one.

    July 11, 2009

  • Weirdnet can be so droll.

    July 11, 2009