Word
nymphet
US/ˈnɪmfət/
UK/nˈɪmfɪt/
Definition
n. a young girl who is sexually attractive. This word is often used to describe a girl who seems more mature or sexual than her age suggests.
n. a sexually attractive young girl, typically one who is perceived as being sexually precocious. The term was coined by Vladimir Nabokov in the novel Lolita and carries strong literary and often controversial connotations.
Examples
“The film explores the complex relationship between the man and the nymphet.”
“Critics often debate whether the author intended the nymphet character to be a victim or a manipulator within the narrative.”
Examples
simple
“The film explores the complex relationship between the man and the nymphet.”
contextual
“Critics often debate whether the author intended the nymphet character to be a victim or a manipulator within the narrative.”
Usage
Often carries a negative or highly sexualized connotation; use with caution due to its origins in themes of predatory behavior.
Real-World Examples
“In claiming the image of Lolita, on one’s own terms, for one’s own ends, to embody a history, to haunt, to ruin, perhaps the Tumblr nymphet gets her revenge on Humbert by waking up “among the wholesome children”, acutely and powerfully conscious of just that power that is rightfully hers, all hers, to do with what she wills.” “In his essay ‘On a book entitled Lolita’, first published in 1957, and thereafter appended to the novel, he referred to this opusculum of 1939 as the product of ‘the first little throb of Lolita’, and added that its ‘anonymous nymphet’ was ‘basically the same lass’ as Dolores Haze.” “The argument is that the “nymphet” is already sexually adventurous.” Etymology
From English nymph + the diminutive suffix -et, first attested 1612. The later sense was established by Vladimir Nabokov's 1955 novel Lolita.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/nymphet