waif
waif — noun
- waifsingular
- waifsplural
1. a child, or sometimes a stray animal, that looks thin, dirty, and uncared for be
a child, or sometimes a stray animal, that looks thin, dirty, and uncared for because it has no safe home.
The shelter worker wrapped the waif in a wool blanket by the heater.
waif as a child needing protection
A volunteer fed the waif after spotting the puppy beside the rubbish bins.
waif used for a stray animal
Police found the young waif sleeping under cardboard near the bus station.
The novel opens with a waif following food carts through winter streets.
- street child
a modern and more neutral phrase for a homeless child
- stray
mainly used for animals; much less often for people
- orphan
focuses on parents being dead, not on homelessness or neglect
- foundling
usually a baby or child who was abandoned and later found
文法句型
a waif sleeping in a doorway
rescue a waif
a little waif from the streets
用法筆記
Usually appears in literary or emotional descriptions rather than neutral everyday speech. It most often refers to a child, but writers sometimes extend it to a thin stray animal.
常見錯誤
2. a girl or young woman whose body is unusually thin and who has a fragile or deli
a girl or young woman whose body is unusually thin and who has a fragile or delicate look.
The photographer posed the waif in an oversized coat beside the window.
fashion description of a very thin young woman
Reviewers described Sofie as a dark-eyed waif with sharp cheekbones.
In the film, the waif drifts through Paris in shoes two sizes large.
Christopher worried that the heroine looked more like a waif than a dancer.
- skinny girl
a plainer phrase that states the thinness without the literary tone
- slip of a girl
old-fashioned and emphasises a very small, fragile build
- gamine
a literary or fashion word for a slim, youthful look with more liveliness
文法句型
look like a waif
a dark-eyed waif
describe someone as a waif
用法筆記
This sense often appears in fashion, film, or literary writing and can sound judgmental or romanticized. It suggests unusual thinness together with a delicate, almost childlike appearance.