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Showing results for waif. Search instead for waifi.
Definitions

waif

[weyf] / 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.

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

Slip away from the crowd and stroll beneath the bridge and you’ll come upon a waif of a man in a dark polo shirt and ball cap.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 1, 2021

We looked again at our grandchild who was part of ourselves, and at the poor little waif who lay quietly now on the rag-heap, and we said farewell.

From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya




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