Cute, What Is It?

A paper bag was left on the floor, and Romeo immediately climbed in then looked up at me. This was irresistibly cute, so I grabbed my camera and snapped this picture. Then I thought, “was is it that makes us call something cute?”

Merriam-Webster defines cute as attractive or pretty in a childish, youthful, or delicate way. What is that makes something seem childish, youthful, or delicate?  I thought about this long and hard for about five minutes which the outer limits of my attention. Then I looked at some “cute” photos.  My conclusion that the first important element required by cute is roundness of shape. The next important element is softness of line.

But here’s the next question “how is it that critters that are definitely not cute manage to do things that are cute?  For this I have no answer.