cute

(as) cute as a bug's ear

Adorable; very cute. Your puppy is just as cute as a bug's ear! Look at his big eyes!
See also: cute, ear

(as) cute as a button

Pleasing in appearance or temperament. This phrase is most often applied to children and females. Your little girl is as cute as a button in that frilly dress. Katie is pretty and has such a sweet disposition—she's as cute as a button.
See also: button, cute

be as cute as a button

To be pleasing in appearance and/or temperament. This phrase is most often applied to children and females. Your little girl is as cute as a button in that frilly dress. Katie is pretty and has such a sweet disposition—she's as cute as a button.
See also: button, cute

cute hoor

Someone who is wily and shrewd. Primarily heard in Ireland. Phil is a real cute hoor—he always manages to outfox everyone else, even when you least expect it.
See also: cute

cuter than a June bug

Adorable; extremely cute. My little niece was cuter than a June bug in her costume.
See also: bug, cute, June
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

*cute as a bug's ear

very cute. (*Also: as ~.) That little baby is cute as a bug's ear.
See also: cute, ear
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

cute as a button

Also, cute as a bug's ear. Pretty or attractive in a dainty way, as in That baby is cute as a button. Cute originally was a shortening of acute, for "sharp-witted and clever," but in the early 1800s it also took on its current meaning. Other than that buttons and bug's hearing organs can be small, there is no good explanation for these similes.
See also: button, cute
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

(as) cute as a ˈbutton

(American English) (usually used about a baby or a child, or somebody/something small) very attractive and charming: Kate is four, and as cute as a button!
See also: button, cute
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

cute as a button

Daintily attractive. The word “cute” dates from the seventeenth century. It was originally an abbreviation of acute and had the same meaning: clever, shrewd, ingenious. In America, however, it came to be applied to attractive persons or things, those with an appearance of dainty charm rather than outright beauty. A button is small and round; so are some cute objects. For some reason this simile took hold in the early twentieth century. The synonym cute as a bug’s ear similarly alludes to something very small—and in fact nonexistent (bugs don’t have ears).
See also: button, cute
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • (as) cute as a bug's ear
  • cute as a bug's ear
  • be as cute as a button
  • ear
  • cute as a button
  • (as) cute as a button
  • June
  • cuter than a June bug
  • mopped
  • moppy
References in periodicals archive
To enter your cute kid into the competition all you need to do is complete the form below and upload a recent photograph of your child.
Cute Kids 2018: Enter your little ones now for the chance to win! There are prizes to be won in the Liverpool ECHO Cute Kids Campaign. One lucky winner will receive a cheque of [pounds sterling]600 and 3 category winners will each receive [pounds sterling]300
Stavropoulos said she first heard the term "cute aggression" after a team of Yale University psychologists released research related to the phenomenon in 2015.
See something so cute you could crush it? Here's why it happens
These super cute and funky slippers look very cool but will keep a baby's tiny tootsies very toasty.
Bearinggifts; THE ARRIVAL OF A NEW BABY IS ALWAYS TIME FOR CELEBRATION AND SHOPPING FOR A BABY GIFT CAN BE A LOT OF FUN, NOT LEAST BECAUSE EVERYTHING LOOKS SO DARN CUTE! IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR A SPECIAL PRESENT THEN THESE SHOULD HELP YOU STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD, ESPECIALLY IF MUM AND DAD ARE BIG SPORTS FANS. IT MAY EVEN BOOST YOUR CHANCE OF A STARRING ROLE AT THE CHRISTENING!
Chie Sakai has made fabric prints of cute things including teddy bears, and made them into smocking, some pulled too tight to make them hard and unpleasant.
Japanese works show dark side of being cute
There are four categories the cute kids could be entered into; 0-9 months, 10-18 months, 19-36 months and 3-5 years.
Vote now to decide who will be your top tot. ONE MAGNIFICENT CHRISTMAS CHRISTMAS
And now we are asking you to submit your pictures of your own little-ones to help us crown Tyneside's cute tots and cuties in the counties.
Parents of our Cute Kid winner encourages readers to enter 2015 competition; Parents of 2014 Cute Kid winner Rita-Jo Richards, of Walkergate, Newcastle, say 'just do it' and enter your child
In 1962, Sanrio introduced products with images of cute characters.
Hello Kitty Turns Forty!
My favorite animal is a zebra because it is cute and I love it!
My favorite animal
From time to time cute things cross my desk and instinctively get my attention.
Too cute: Konrad Lorenz proposed the notion of a "baby schema," a set of facial and body features that make a creature appear "cute" and activates in others, the motivation to care for it
Sadie: "Yes, he's so cute." Mom: "Because he's cute he makes you cry?"
"Oh, my gosh, I want him to stay little" tearful sister says of baby brother
WITH my pointy nose and chin "cute" is not an attribute I expect to have applied to me.
Obesity among teenage girls weighs heavy on their future
We aren't complaining 'cause those kids are cute, but Amr Diab has definitely performed a celebrity "no-no" by posting pics of his adorable children on Facebook and Twitter.
Awww, Amr Diab posts precious pics of his kids
In this unique study, which focuses on unexplored aesthetic aspects, Ngai (English, Stanford U.) proposes a theory of aesthetic categories of the zany, cute, and interesting.
Our aesthetic categories; zany, cute, interesting