The Times Literary Supplement (London)
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Twee and Baby Talk
Most adults wouldn't be caught dead saying, "Oh, look at the twee little birdie!" but they probably wouldn't be averse to saying: "He went fishing with his dad," "She works as a nanny," or "Hey, buddy, how's it going?" Anyone who uses dad, nanny, or buddy owes a debt to "baby talk," a term used for both the childish speech adults adopt when addressing youngsters and for the speech of small children who are just learning to talk. Twee also originated in baby talk as an alteration of sweet. In the early 1900s, it was a term of affection, but nowadays British speakers and writers—and, increasingly, Americans as well—use twee for things that have passed beyond agreeable and into the realm of cloying.
Examples of twee in a Sentence
Rachel Howard, San Francisco Chronicle, 11 Apr. 2026
The pinafore-style dress was in a twee ditsy print and flowed well past her knees, while a leather belt sat happily on her waist without exerting effort to cinch.
—Leah Dolan, CNN Money, 9 Apr. 2026
Her sometimes slacker, sometimes twee rock takes recurring major sevenths and wrings them for all their existential meaning.
—Ethan Beck, Pitchfork, 27 Mar. 2026
There’s a note of self-congratulation running through this work too — tricky to pinpoint because it comes swathed in both twee humility and real suffering.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 17 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for twee
Cite this Entry
“Twee.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/twee. Accessed 23 Apr. 2026.
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