minx

noun

1. A flirtatious, impudent, or pert young woman.

   “In an other corner, Mistris Minx, a marchants wife, that will eate no cherries, forsooth, but when they are at twentie shillings a pound, that lookes as simperingly as if she were besmeard, and iets it as gingerly as if she were dancing the canaries, […]”

   “How Huſſie! was there ever ſuch a provoking Minx?”

   “Miſs Herbert. So good, Mr. gallant, gay Lothario of ſixty-five, a good morning to you. [Exit. Miſs Herbert. / Old Manly. A ſaucy minx.”

   “Miss Squeers made no more direct reply than surveying her former friend from top to toe, and elevating her nose in the air with ineffable disdain. But some indistinct allusions to a ‘puss,’ and a ‘minx,’ and a ‘contemptible creature,’ escaped her; and this, together with a severe biting of the lips, great difficulty in swallowing, and very frequent comings and goings of breath, seemed to imply that feelings were swelling in Miss Squeers’s bosom too great for utterance.”

   “"Thy own tongue blister the roof of thy mouth!" cried Mrs. Glendinning, in a half-stifled, whispering scream. "'Tis not for thee, hired one, to rail at my son, though he were Lucifer, simmering in Hell! Mend thy manners, minx!"”

2. (dated, derogatory)A promiscuous woman; also, a mistress (“the other woman in an extramarital relationship”) or a prostitute.

   “Well, yet at length the houre came that flattered him with grace, / Who all too haſtie hide him ſelfe to his appointed place. / Arrived there, a pretie minx (directed wel before) / Unto a lodging brought this lord, and locked faſt the dore. / When he was ſafe, awaye ſhe went, for joy Alberto hopt, / But ſee, a chaunge! too late he ſpyde he was in priſon popt. / The windowes made of yron barres, the walles of ſtone and clay, / A bed he found, but farre unfit he thought for Venus play.”

   “[W]hat did you meane by that ſame handkercher, you gaue mee euen now? […] this is ſome minxes token, and I muſt take out the worke; there, giue it the hobby horſe, whereſoeuer you had it, I'le take out no worke on't.”

   “If thou be abſent long, thy wife then thinkes, / Th'art drunke, at eaſe, or with ſome pretty minkes, / 'Tis well with thee, or elſe beloued of ſome, / Whil'ſt ſhee poore ſoule doth fare full ill at home.”

   “They are a couple of alluring wanton Minxes.”

   “He to his ardent love ſhall win the fair, / From beauty's queen, to her who ſcrubs the ſtair, / From the Kept-miſtreſs, or the Counteſs vain, / Down to the tawdry Minx in Drury Lane.”

3. (obsolete)A pet dog.
4. (alt-of, obsolete)Obsolete spelling of mink (“any of various semi-aquatic, carnivorous mammals in the Mustelinae subfamily”).

   “The Minx […] frequents the water like the Otter, and very much reſembles it in ſhape and color, but is leſs; will abide longer under the water than the muſk quaſh, muſk rat, or little beaver: […]”

   “Many of these birds are destroyed by Weasels and Minxes.”

   “2d. Carnivora, or flesh eaters. Of these we have […] the New York ermine, or ermine weasel; the mink, or minx otter; the common otter; […]”

   “We next come to the mink or minx otter (Putorius Vison) which is the only animal of the genus mustela inhabiting the northern parts of America that can be said to live in the water, and the name of "fisher" could with much justice be transferred from its present bearer to the mink.”

   “There is, however, scarcely any distinction in the other portions of the dress of the sexes [of southeastern Alaskan natives], except that the skin coats or tunics of the women and the facings of the bonnet or hood (worn by both sexes) are more elaborately decorated with minx, otter, or seal fur about the throat, and down the front, than those of the men.”

verb

1. (ambitransitive)Used transitively when followed by it: to behave like a minx, that is, in a flirtatious and impudent manner.

   “[He] knows the dress of every girl he meets— / In fact could cut you out the very plan, / Each article could name, and tell you every shade, / Whether adorning minxing miss or ancient maid!”

   “Alison might have, if she hadn't minxed herself out of a job.”

   “She grabbed desperately at the pistol, singeing hot, and she and Ginny fell to the floor, Marion on top and looking down at twisty little Ginny, that minxing blond thrush, now beneath her, churning under her and spitting and hacking and cursing Marion and cursing her so.”

   “It's just a late date. It's like I'm Carrie Bradshaw, minxing it around Manhattan.”

   “Moonface minxed and flashed her red nails like a dancer, chameleon that she was.”

2. (transitive)To make (someone) like a minx; (intransitive) to become like a minx.

   “Whether you're sipping fine bubbly from a crystal flute while having your nails minxed, or soaking in a heavenly milk bath, a visit to Miss Fox is your ticket to forget your worries and simply indulge.”