chétif

Borrowed from French chétif. Doublet of captive and caitiff.

chétif (comparative more chétif, superlative most chétif)

1. Sickly; weak.
   • 1974, GB Edwards, The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, New York, published 2007, page 130:

     It was hard to believe this gay, good-looking young chap, laughing and making mock of the very religion he was going into, was the chétif little boy who used to follow the big Horace everywhere and couldn't live without him.

• fetich, fitché, hetfic

Inherited from Old French chaitif, caitif, from Vulgar Latin *cactivus, from a combination of Latin captīvus (“prisoner”) with Transalpine Gaulish *caxtos, from Proto-Celtic *kaxtos (compare Irish cacht, Welsh caeth). Compare also Italian cattivo (“bad”). See also French captif, a borrowed doublet.

• IPA^(key): /ʃe.tif/

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chétif (feminine chétive, masculine plural chétifs, feminine plural chétives)

1. puny, scrawny
2. meagre, paltry
   • 2018 October 1, “Mort de Charles Aznavour : soixante-douze ans de carrière en six chansons et anecdotes”, in Le Monde‎:

     Repéré en 1946 par Edith Piaf en personne, le chanteur peine à s’imposer. Son physique chétif, sa voix si particulière, son style ne séduisent pas.

     Spotted in 1946 by Edith Piaf herself, the singer struggled to establish himself. His puny physique, his unique voice, his style, do not seduce.

• “chétif”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.