cherub

IPA/ˈtʃerəb/
KK[tʃˈɛrəb]IPA/ˈtʃerəb/

cherub — noun

  • cherubsingular
  • cherubsplural

1. a kind of angel that painters and sculptors usually show as a chubby naked baby

1.nounC1
Definition

a kind of angel that painters and sculptors usually show as a chubby naked baby with little wings on its back.

Example

Cherubs with golden wings floated across the painted ceiling of the old chapel.

plural subject in an art-description context

Sade pointed to a stone cherub holding a harp above the cathedral doorway.

premodifier: 'stone cherub' for sculpted form

Common collocations
  • stone cherub
  • carved cherub
  • painted cherub
  • winged cherub
Synonyms
  • putto

    art-history term for the same chubby winged child figure, especially in Renaissance painting

  • seraph

    another angel type, but ranked higher and not shown as a child

Usage Note

Most often appears in descriptions of European religious art, especially Renaissance and Baroque painting or sculpture; rarely used outside artistic or decorative contexts.

Common Mistakes

A cherub flew down from heaven and saved the village.
An angel flew down from heaven and saved the village.
'cherub' refers to the art figure, not an angel in a story or scripture context.

2. a charming child who looks sweet and acts politely — often said warmly by adults

2.nounC1
Definition

a charming child who looks sweet and acts politely — often said warmly by adults about a young child who is on their best behaviour.

Example

Christopher sat quietly through the long dinner, a perfect little cherub in his Sunday clothes.

collocation: 'perfect little cherub' as warm praise

Aunt Eliska said her grandson was an absolute cherub all weekend at the lake house.

intensifier: 'absolute cherub' (informal praise)

Common collocations
  • a perfect cherub
  • an absolute cherub
  • a little cherub
Synonyms
  • angel

    very common informal praise for a well-behaved child; broader and more frequent than 'cherub'

  • darling

    affectionate label for any sweet child or person, not limited to good behaviour

Antonyms
  • brat

    informal: a badly-behaved or spoiled child

Usage Note

Subject is almost always a young child, and the speaker is usually an adult expressing affection or mild surprise at good behaviour; often used with positive intensifiers like 'perfect', 'absolute', or 'little'.

Common Mistakes

My teenage brother is a real cherub at home.
My little nephew is a real cherub at home.
'cherub' in this sense almost only describes young children, not teenagers or adults.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words name beings or figures linked to heaven, but they sit in different places. 'Angel' is the everyday word for any heavenly messenger and is the most common in conversation, songs, and religious texts. 'Cherub' narrows the picture to a chubby winged child in painting and sculpture, especially in European art. 'Putto' is the art-history label for that same chubby child figure, used by curators and critics rather than in casual speech. 'Seraph' is rarer and more literary, naming a higher-ranking angel that is never shown as a child. So you might write 'angels of the church', 'cherubs on the chapel ceiling', 'putti in a Renaissance fresco', or 'a seraph singing before the throne'.

cherub ↗angel ↗seraphputto ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • cherub face
  • cherub cheeks
  • cherub statue

Phrases

  • chubby as a cherub
  • smiling like a cherub

Prepositions

  • cherub of (a cherub of a child)

Etymology

HebrewGreekLatinEnglish

'Cherub' came into English through Latin and Greek from the Hebrew word 'kerub', the name of a winged heavenly being in the Old Testament. In the original scripture these beings were powerful guardians, but by the Renaissance European painters had reshaped them into the soft, chubby winged child we picture today — so the everyday meaning drifted far from the original biblical one.