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waif

[wayf] / weɪf /
NOUN
lost or unclaimed person or thing
Synonyms


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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The day after she and her husband, Jack, sculpt the figure of a child out of snow, an ethereal waif emerges from the wilderness.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 30, 2026

The trial heard him described as a "ruffian" and a "street waif" who never stood still.

From BBC ● Jan. 27, 2025

But by age 12, she found herself worrying that she wasn’t quite the physical ideal espoused by the school’s late founder, George Balanchine: a half-starved waif.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 14, 2023

Give a lot of credit to NBC’s two winning leads: Celina Smith as the wide-eyed waif Annie and the crooner Harry Connick Jr. as the bossy Daddy Warbucks.

From New York Times ● Dec. 3, 2021

He wanted to stay for another showing, but he remembered the waif.

From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole


Vocabulary lists containing waif

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