Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Characterized by or exhibiting refined, tasteful beauty of manner, form, or style. See Synonyms at delicate.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Having good or fine taste; nice in taste; fastidious; sensible to beauty or propriety; discriminating beauty from deformity or imperfection: said of persons.
- Polished; polite; refined; graceful: said of persons: as, an elegant lady or gentleman.
- Characterized by or pertaining to good taste; indicating a refined propriety of taste: as, elegant manners.
- Expressed with taste and neatness; correct and polished in expression or arrangement: as, an elegant style of composition; elegant speech.
- Pleasing to the eye by grace of form or delicacy of color; characterized by exquisiteness of design or fine taste; free from coarseness, blemish, or other defect; refined: as, an elegant figure; an elegant vase; an elegant structure.
- Pleasing to the mind, as exhibiting fine perception of what is required; calculated to effect its purpose with exceeding accuracy, delicacy, and neatness; exquisitely ingenious or appropriate: as, an elegant modification of a philosophical instrument; an elegant algebraical formula or mathematical demonstration; an elegant chess problem.
- Synonyms Elegant, Graceful, tasteful, courtly. Elegant implies that anything of an artificial character to which it is applied is the result of training and cultivation through the study of models or ideals of grace; graceful implies less of consciousness, and suggests often a natural gift. A rustic, uneducated girl may be naturally graceful, but not elegant. We speak of elegant manners, composition, furniture, taste, but of a graceful tree, fawn, child; the playful movements of a kitten may be graceful. See beautiful.
Wiktionary
- adj. Characterised by or exhibiting elegance.
- adj. Characterised by minimalism and intuitiveness while preserving exactness and precision.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Very choice, and hence, pleasing to good taste; characterized by grace, propriety, and refinement, and the absence of every thing offensive; exciting admiration and approbation by symmetry, completeness, freedom from blemish, and the like; graceful; tasteful and highly attractive
- adj. Exercising a nice choice; discriminating beauty or sensitive to beauty.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. displaying effortless beauty and simplicity in movement or execution
- adj. suggesting taste, ease, and wealth
- adj. refined and tasteful in appearance or behavior or style
Etymologies
- From Middle French elegant, ultimately from Latin elegans. (Wiktionary)
- Middle English, from Old French, from Latin ēlegāns, ēlegant-, present participle of *ēlegāre, variant of ēligere, to select; see elect. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Nope; Nelly's an elegant name -- an _elegant_ name.”
“Rad Hourani, a Syrian-born self-made designer who grew up in Quebec, also received attention last week with what he describes as his elegant "slick, modern, long, layered, timeless, genderless, seasonless" style.”
Prune Perromat: WATCH: Intoxicating Pain: The New Design Gang at New York Fashion Week
“Page 74 are made to excel in that department which lies between the sensuous and the intellectual -- what we call the elegant arts.”
Dred; A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp. In Two Volumes. Vol. II
“It allowed players to target virtual minarets in elegant Vienna and pastoral Alpine villages with a single word, "stop.”
The Washington Post: Anti-Muslim feelings propel right wing in Europe
“The house looks simple and elegant from the inside with the upper floor possessing sliding glass windows to enjoy the view outside.”
“With a modern looking home decor accessories, you can add that certain elegant feel to the house and exude a more comfortable setting at home.”
“This more masculine ensemble, while still elegant, is a fun departure from the brunette's closet of dresses.”
Red Carpet Wrap: Hathaway, Hudson Fashion Battle At ‘Bride Wars’ Premiere » MTV Movies Blog
“He'd like to see more women in elegant heels, adorable flats or even classic American saddle shoes instead of the "clunky" platforms â his word â that have been so popular in recent seasons.”
The Huffington Post: Manolo Blahnik: 'I'm Suspicious Of Platforms'
“He'd like to see more women in elegant heels, adorable flats or even classic American saddle shoes instead of the "clunky" platforms – his word – that have been so popular in recent seasons.”
The Huffington Post: Manolo Blahnik: 'I'm Suspicious Of Platforms'
“Often I saw shop workers, young women in elegant jackets who stood outside their shops smoking while the occasional customer wandered around unattended inside.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘elegant’.
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grade 3
ability, absorb, act, tive, actual, adopt, advantage, ambition, ancient, arrange, arctic, attitude and 125 more...
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CULI - wine-tasting adjectives
In this area of expertise nouns are frequently used as adjectives (almond, bacon, cider, diesel, fennel, fresh-cut hay, wool) or new adjectives are formed (appley, berrylike, citrusy, full-bodied, ...
acetic, acidic, aged, angular, appley, astringent, attractive, austere, berrylike, big, bitter, brawny and 511 more...
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bbc uk china vocab.
conservationists, estimate, threats, infertility, eating away at, endangered, furry, panel, in trouble, gongs, triumphed, caps and 1007 more...
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Fairylike
fairylike, enchanted, pixieish, pixyish, impish, mischievous, fluttery, magical, bewitching, enchanting, fey, otherworldly and 126 more...
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my fab list
blowsabella, aperçu, froideur, salubrious, abject, gallipot, mumchance, wainscot, virago, macerate, lascivious, clandestine and 181 more...
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webdev
random webdev lingo used primarily in computer programming.
( open list, randomness, technical jargon, geek speak )
more:
ajax, user, admin, frontend, backend, database, sql, protocol, call, dom, layout, ui and 439 more... -
Describing People
eye, hair, mouth, nose, tooth, head, face, arm, hand, finger, lip, leg and 212 more...
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Hence
Words with definitions that have a "hence" in them.
hanger, Deet, tripe, spindlelegs, fiddle, store, pluck, snap, villain, link, comedy, particular and 410 more...
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roots of beauty
aesthetics, tuberose, gladiolus, actaeon, scammony, symmetry, philocaly, elegant, callisteia, kalology, resplendence, beauteousness and 23 more...
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This intriguing novel .... is a taut,...
Crimes committed by book reviewers. Terms here are culled shamelessly from a recent New York Times blog post, and the comments that it generated.
Seven Deadly Sins
See a...poignant, compelling, taut, lyrical, spare, eschew, limn, craft, nuanced, contrived, majestic, subtle and 52 more...
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Words That Positively Describe Furniture
Trying to say something nice to a chesterfield? Here are some suggestions:
crafted, designer, solid, ephemeral, classic, versatile, comfortable, innovative, sturdy, lightweight, colorfast, graceful and 26 more...
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THE WAY WE DRESS
These Vocabulary will learn adjectives that describe fashion choices and personal style in clothes.
chic, classic, conservative, elegant, fashionable, flashy, formal, frumpy, functional, funky, quirky, retro and 20 more...
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Her
beautiful, lovely, magnificent, exquisite, marvelous, charming, delicate, delightful, elegant, divine, resplendant, radiant and 6 more...
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Adjectives
Appearance Adjectives
Appearance Adject..., adorable, beautiful, clean, drab, elegant, fancy, glamorous, handsome, long, magnificent, old-fashioned and 5 more...
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Words of Praise
Please contribute lots of panegyrical words—preferably such that are of universal use.
gorgeous, flamboyant, grand, magnificent, iridescent, incandescent, splendorous, coruscating, immaculate, magniloquent, sublime, scintillating and 33 more...
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TECH - Steve Jobs
visionary, redefine, digital, founder, era, computer, cultural, product, global, gaunt, frail, executive and 76 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for elegant.
sionnach Sorry for any testiness in my response, GHibbs. Please keep on posting! Nov 7, 2011
ruzuzu *curtsies* Nov 7, 2011
bilby My what elegant dung, ruzuzu. Nov 7, 2011
countmeblue classy Nov 6, 2011
ruzuzu Yes--especially if the card is from Chase Bank. Nov 6, 2011
leaden You take away its debonair card? Nov 6, 2011
ruzuzu Some of my favorite jokes are about elegance. How do you stop a charging elegant?*
*This joke would also work for sophisticates or aristocrats. Nov 6, 2011
leaden Perhaps she or he meant “an elephant” (and speaks as a first language one lacking articles). Nov 6, 2011
rolig Apparently not. There is something rather sad about GHibbs's postings. Nov 6, 2011
sionnach Oh, for goodness sake, dear GHibbs. Do you not know the difference between a noun and an adjective? Nov 6, 2011
GHibbs My original post was an implied question to which you have collectively given an answer that is 'no', thank you.
"In as much as the word includes the ideas of the 'processes and results of' being pleasing to the eye, it also seems to have a use as a singular noun. 'She is elegant!'"
Nov 6, 2011