waif

IPA/weɪf/
KK[wˈef]IPA/weɪf/

waif — noun

  • waifsingular
  • waifsplural

1. a child, or sometimes a stray animal, that looks thin, dirty, and uncared for be

1.nounC2
Definition

a child, or sometimes a stray animal, that looks thin, dirty, and uncared for because it has no safe home.

Example

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

Common collocations
  • poor little waif
  • street waif
  • hungry waif
  • rescue a waif
Synonyms
  • 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

Grammar Patterns

a waif sleeping in a doorway

rescue a waif

a little waif from the streets

Usage Note

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.

Common Mistakes

The camp welcomed many waifs from nearby villages.
The camp welcomed many homeless children from nearby villages.
Waif is old-fashioned and highly emotional, so it sounds odd in neutral reporting.

2. a girl or young woman whose body is unusually thin and who has a fragile or deli

2.nounC2
Definition

a girl or young woman whose body is unusually thin and who has a fragile or delicate look.

Example

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.

Common collocations
  • a dark-eyed waif
  • fashion waif
  • look like a waif
  • waif figure
Synonyms
  • 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

Grammar Patterns

look like a waif

a dark-eyed waif

describe someone as a waif

Usage Note

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.

Common Mistakes

The gym helped her become a waif.
The gym helped her become slim.
Waif suggests fragile or unhealthy thinness, not a positive result of exercise.

Word family

  • waifish
    adjectiveC2
  • waiflike
    adjectiveC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Waif is an old-fashioned, literary word for a thin, neglected child, and writers sometimes extend it to a stray animal. Street child is the modern neutral phrase when you mean a homeless child living without stable care. Orphan is different because it focuses on the child's parents having died, not on the child's appearance or living conditions. Stray is the everyday choice for an animal that has wandered away or has no owner. Foundling means a baby or child who was abandoned and then discovered by someone. You might write The reporter interviewed several street children, but The novel follows a waif through the market at dawn.

waif ↗street childorphan ↗stray ↗foundling ↗

Etymology

Anglo-FrenchEnglish

Waif came into English through Anglo-French from a word meaning something stray or left unclaimed. English first used it for property or animals that had no clear owner, and later the meaning shifted toward a homeless, neglected child. That older idea of being cast off still shapes the emotional tone of the word today.

First known use

14th century

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 3a Noun (2)