elegant - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From Late Middle English elegaunt, from Middle French elegant, ultimately from Latin ēlegāns, collateral form of present participle of ēligere, from ex- (“out of, from”) +‎ legō (“choose, select, appoint”).

elegant (comparative more elegant, superlative most elegant)

  1. Characterised by or exhibiting elegance; having grace, refinement, or tasteful simplicity.
    Synonyms: classy, graceful, refined, dressy
    Antonyms: inelegant, clumsy
    • 2015 October 27, Matt Preston, The Simple Secrets to Cooking Everything Better‎[2], Plum, →ISBN, page 192:
      You could just use ordinary shop-bought kecap manis to marinade the meat, but making your own is easy, has a far more elegant fragrance and is, above all, such a great brag! Flavouring kecap manis is an intensely personal thing, so try this version now and next time cook the sauce down with crushed, split lemongrass and a shredded lime leaf.
  2. Characterised by minimalism and intuitiveness while preserving exactness and precision.
    Antonyms: inelegant, sloppy, haphazard
    an elegant solution
    • 2025 February 19, Paul Clifton, “I am absolutely committed to reforming the railway”, in RAIL, number 1029, page 41:
      "For myself, because of the baggage of 30 years of balkanisation, I think the elegant solution is to take operations back into the public sector. It will mean you can have a whole-industry approach to running the railway, unencumbered by contractual differences."
  3. (Ireland, colloquial, archaic) Fine; doing well.
    • 1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard:
      'An' how are ye, Jemmie—how's every inch iv you?' enquired Moggy of the boy, when his agitation was a little blown over.
      'I'm elegant, thank ye,' he answered; 'an' what's the matther wid ye all? I cum through the kitchen, and seen no one.'

In the early 20th century, often used ironically to mean "overrefined". This sarcastic connotation has now largely fallen out of use, leading to confusion about some derived terms such as elegant variation.[1]

exhibiting elegance

elegant (plural elegants)

  1. An elegant parrot.

    • 1895, The Avicultural Magazine, Volume 1, The Avicultural Society for the Study of Foreign and British Birds, page 22:
      But if the Aviarist be ambitious to keep the lovely, but destructive, members of the Parrot family, he must be content with grass alone, because Parrakeets (except the weak-billed Turquoisines and Elegants) would destroy the shrubs and trees in a day.

  2. ^ Garner, Bryan A. (2009), Garner's Modern American Usage‎[1], 3rd edition, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 462

Borrowed from Latin ēlegantem.

elegant m or f (masculine and feminine plural elegants)

  1. elegant
    Antonym: inelegant

Borrowed from French élégant, from Latin ēlegāns.

elegant

  1. elegant, smart
  2. elegant, neat
  3. (adverbial) elegantly, smartly, neatly

Borrowed from Middle French elegant.

elegant (comparative eleganter, superlative elegantst)

  1. elegant
Declension of elegant
uninflected elegant
inflected elegante
comparative eleganter
positive comparative superlative
predicative/adverbial elegant eleganter het elegantsthet elegantste
indefinite m./f. sing. elegante elegantere elegantste
n. sing. elegant eleganter elegantste
plural elegante elegantere elegantste
definite elegante elegantere elegantste
partitive elegants eleganters —

Borrowed from Middle French elegant.

elegant (strong nominative masculine singular eleganter, comparative eleganter, superlative am elegantesten)

  1. elegant

Positive forms of elegant

Comparative forms of elegant

Superlative forms of elegant

ēlēgant

  1. third-person plural present active indicative of ēlēgō

elegant m (feminine singular elegante, masculine plural elegants, feminine plural elegantes)

  1. elegant

From Latin elegans, via French élégant.

elegant (neuter singular **elegant, definite singular and plural elegante)

  1. elegant

From Latin elegans, via French élégant.

elegant (neuter singular **elegant, definite singular and plural elegante)

  1. elegant

Borrowed from French élégant, from Latin ēlegāns.

elegant m pers (female equivalent elegantka, diminutive elegancik)

  1. elegant man

Borrowed from French élégant, from Latin elegans.

elegant m or n (feminine singular elegantă, masculine plural eleganți, feminine/neuter plural elegante)

  1. tasteful

From Latin elegans, via French élégant.

elegant (comparative elegantare, superlative elegantast)

  1. elegant

elegant c

  1. an elegance (person who is (doing something) elegant)

Often a bit tongue-in-cheek.