Dictionary.com | Meanings & Definitions of English Words (original) (raw)

elegant

adjective

  1. tastefully fine or luxurious in dress, style, design, etc.:
    elegant furnishings.
  2. gracefully refined and dignified, as in tastes, habits, or literary style:
    an elegant young gentleman; an elegant prosodist.
    Synonyms: courtly, polished
  3. graceful in form or movement:
    an elegant wave of the hand.
  4. appropriate to refined taste:
    a man devoted to elegant pursuits.
  5. excellent; fine; superior:
    an absolutely elegant wine.
  6. (of scientific, technical, or mathematical theories, solutions, etc.) gracefully concise and simple; admirably succinct.

/ ˈɛlɪɡənt /

adjective

  1. tasteful in dress, style, or design
  2. dignified and graceful in appearance, behaviour, etc
  3. cleverly simple; ingenious
    an elegant solution to a problem

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Derived Forms

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Word History and Origins

Origin of elegant1

First recorded in

1400–50; Late Middle English (from Middle French ), from Latin ēlegant- (stem of ēlegāns ) “tasteful, choice,” equivalent to ēleg- (akin to ēlig- “select”) + -ant- a suffix forming adjectives from verbs; originally the present participle of ēlegāre (unattested); elect,

-ant

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Word History and Origins

Origin of elegant1

C16: from Latin ēlegāns tasteful, related to ēligere to select; see

elect

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Synonym Study

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Example Sentences

Federer - known for his effortless movement, his elegant one-handed backhand and calm aura - could not do the same to Nadal at his favoured Slam.

Most often Ms Chola is photographed in all her glamour outside - often sitting on an elegant wooden chair or lounging on a leather sofa.

It cited examples such as a three-piece razor set and an "elegant necklace, bracelet, and earring set" available at just under three dollars each in a press release about the launch.

In the driveway of a lushly landscaped home just off the Malibu coast sits a luxury British automobile, rounded, elegant; a smooth-sailing land yacht.

“I don’t think I’ve had as busy a year in North America for a very, very long time,” she says in a recent interview, poised and quietly glamorous in an elegant gray turtleneck sweater.