Fetching means attractive or charming in appearance. When someone describes a person as looking fetching, they mean that person looks particularly appealing or delightful, often because of what they're wearing or how they've arranged themselves. You might say someone looks fetching in their new outfit, or that a hat sits at a fetching angle on their head.

The word carries an old-fashioned, slightly playful tone. You're more likely to encounter it in classic novels than in everyday conversation, though people still use it when they want to sound a bit elegant or whimsical. In Anne of Green Gables, characters might comment on a dress being fetching, or in old movies, someone might say, “You look quite fetching this evening.”

Fetching suggests not just beauty but a certain charm or appeal that catches attention in a pleasant way.