Say the word “boutique” to different people, and the response may vary greatly.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a boutique as a small fashionable shop or business that offers highly specialized products or services. Another definition says it is a small retail shop that specializes in gifts, fashionable clothes, accessories or food. Most people also would associate it with higher-end merchandise.

Some would say there are no boutiques in Newtown, others define the term more broadly and list their favorite small, locally owned stores scattered across Newtown.

Still others said the word conjures up a retail strip of small one-of-a-kind-type stores they might more easily find in Ridgefield or Katonah, N.Y. but is missing in Newtown.

Even owners of stores that some customers would call a boutique said they don’t want to be known as that. In a Facebook posting, several people said they would consider Down on Main Street a boutique, but owner Larry Schneider disagreed.

“Boutique to me means very feminine, very expensive, selling tiny figurines to put on your mantle -- and that’s not what we are at all,” he said.

The shop offers an eclectic collection of gifts, handbags, jewelry and accessories for woman as well as children, and is particularly known for its large collection of Vera Bradley bags.

Other Facebook responses included retail outlets, such as Fun Kids Consignment and Wishing Well in Sandy Hook.

Tamara Doherty, owner of Wishing Well, said she agreed with people who said there were no true boutiques in town.

She said she would not describe her store, which was opened with the intent of supporting local artisans and offers a variety of unique merchandise, as a boutique because in her mind the word conjures up one-of-a-kind expensive clothing and jewelry.

“I almost have a negative connotation to boutique,” she said. “ I mean we have items that you would find in a boutique but I wouldn’t consider us a boutique.”

Nearby at Smoky Topaz, owner Lari Freeman said when she started the business three years ago, she would have described it as a boutique because it offers one-of-a-kind jewelry of her own design, but over the years she has added consignment items and performed watch and jewelry repairs that makes it less of a boutique.

But all of that was done as part of surviving a sluggish economy, and is similar to what many other local businesses have done, Freeman said.

“Everyone’s trying to take a stab at what will work in their community,” she said.

Other candidates for "boutique" include The Fashion Exchange on South Main Street, which sells jewelry as well as clothes on consignment, generally designer labels, the manager there said.

Julie Allen Bridal also might be considered a bridal boutique, although the distinction of being the second largest bridal shop in the state might stretch the definition of a small shop.

The shop offers a large collection of special order dresses for brides, bridesmaids, mother-of-the brides as well as those looking for special prom outfits. The selection features 200 bridal gowns and 800 bridesmaid dresses.

Still, the business, which draws customers from the region, boasts personalized attention and three-generations of local family ownership, including store manager Lauren Mattegat, a granddaughter of Allen, who herself is engaged to be married.

If specialized products were the sole definition of boutique, then Bit of Tack on South Main Street also might qualify as they sell equestrian merchandise from riding gear to unique gifts for the horse lover.

If, however, there was one shop that most people would say comes closest to the definition of a boutique it would be Sabrina Style in Sandy Hook. These days, given the prom season, a seemingly never-ending stream of clientele have come into the shop weekdays as well as weekends to shop.

Owners Irene and Chris Caulfield said they take special pains to make their windows pop with new dresses and styles that help spark customer interest.

In addition to bridal gowns and formalwear the shop has an inventory of stylish party dresses that cater to a hip and modern crowd – making it a favorite since 2009 when it opened.

So while definitions may differ and disagreements may arise in determining whether boutiques exist in Newtown, the town clearly has an abundance of small, locally owned shops -- whether or not you or their proprietors want to call them boutiques.