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• grace
  grace

  noun

  elegance or beauty of form, manner, motion, or action.
• Grace
  Grace

  noun

  William Russell, 1832–1904, U.S. financier and shipping magnate, born in Ireland: mayor of New York City 1880–88.

grace

¹ American  

[greys] / greɪs /

noun

graces plural

1. elegance or beauty of form, manner, motion, or action.

   We watched her skate with effortless grace across the ice.

   Synonyms:

   class, refinement, charm, attractiveness

2. a pleasing or attractive quality or endowment.

   He lacked the manly graces.

3. favor or goodwill.

   Synonyms:

   benevolence, benignity, love, kindliness, kindness

4. a manifestation of favor, especially by a superior.

   It was only through the dean's grace that I wasn't expelled from school.

   Synonyms:

   charity, forgiveness

   Antonyms:

   disfavor, enmity, animosity

5. mercy; clemency; pardon.

   He was saved by an act of grace from the governor.

   Synonyms:

   reprieve, leniency, lenity

6. favor shown in granting a delay or temporary immunity.

7. an allowance of time after a debt or bill has become payable granted to the debtor before suit can be brought against them or a penalty applied.

   The life insurance premium is due today, but we have 31 days' grace before the policy lapses.

8. Theology.

   1. the freely given, unmerited favor and love of God.

   2. the influence or spirit of God operating in humans to regenerate or strengthen them.

   3. a virtue or excellence of divine origin.

      the Christian graces.

   4. Also called state of grace.  the condition of being in God's favor or one of the elect.

9. moral strength.

   the grace to perform a duty.

10. a short prayer before or after a meal, in which a blessing is asked and thanks are given.

    Grandfather will now say grace.

11. Usually Grace a formal title used in addressing or mentioning a duke, duchess, or archbishop, and formerly also a sovereign (usually preceded by your, his, etc.).

12. Classical Mythology. Graces, the goddesses of beauty, daughters of Zeus and Eurynome, worshiped in Greece as the Charities and in Rome as the Gratiae.

13. Music. grace note.

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verb (used with object)

graces, present (3rd person singular) graced, past participle, past gracing present participle

1. to lend or add grace to; adorn.

   Many fine paintings graced the rooms of the house.

   Synonyms:

   enhance, ornament, decorate, deck, beautify, embellish

   Antonyms:

   demean, desecrate, disfigure

2. to favor or honor.

   to grace an occasion with one's presence.

   Synonyms:

   exalt, elevate, glorify

   Antonyms:

   dishonor, disrespect

idioms

1. fall from grace,

   1. Theology. to relapse into sin or disfavor.

   2. to lose favor; be discredited.

      He fell from grace when the boss found out he had lied.

2. but for the grace of God, under less fortunate circumstances.

   But for the grace of God, the brick that just fell from the roof would have hit me on the head!

3. with good grace, willingly; ungrudgingly.

   She took on the extra work with good grace.

4. with bad grace, reluctantly; grudgingly: Also with a bad grace.

   He apologized, but did so with bad grace.

5. have the grace to, to be so kind as to.

   Would you have the grace to help, please?

6. by the grace of God, thankfully; fortunately.

   By the grace of God, I won't have to deal with tax returns for another year.

7. in someone's good / bad graces, regarded with favor (or disfavor) by someone.

   It is a wonder that I have managed to stay in her good graces this long.

Grace ² American  

[greys] / greɪs /

noun

1. William Russell, 1832–1904, U.S. financier and shipping magnate, born in Ireland: mayor of New York City 1880–88.

2. a female given name.

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grace ¹ British  

/ ɡreɪs /

noun

1. elegance and beauty of movement, form, expression, or proportion

2. a pleasing or charming quality

3. goodwill or favour

4. the granting of a favour or the manifestation of goodwill, esp by a superior

5. a sense of propriety and consideration for others

6. (plural)

   1. affectation of manner (esp in the phrase airs and graces )

   2. regarded favourably and with kindness by someone

7. mercy; clemency

8. Christianity

   1. the free and unmerited favour of God shown towards man

   2. the divine assistance and power given to man in spiritual rebirth and sanctification

   3. the condition of being favoured or sanctified by God

   4. an unmerited gift, favour, etc, granted by God

9. a short prayer recited before or after a meal to invoke a blessing upon the food or give thanks for it

10. music a melodic ornament or decoration

11. See days of grace

12. unwillingly or grudgingly

13. willingly or cheerfully

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verb

1. (tr) to add elegance and beauty to

   flowers graced the room

2. (tr) to honour or favour

   to grace a party with one's presence

3. to ornament or decorate (a melody, part, etc) with nonessential notes

Grace ² British  

/ ɡreɪs /

noun

1. a title used to address or refer to a duke, duchess, or archbishop

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Grace ³ British  

/ ɡreɪs /

noun

1. W ( illiam ) G ( ilbert ). 1848–1915, English cricketer

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grace More Idioms  

1. see fall from grace; in someone's bad graces; in someone's good graces; saving grace; say grace; there but for the grace of god; with good grace.

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Pop Culture

— Amazing Grace: A hymn written by English clergyman John Newton, who participated in the slave trade before finding religion. — Grace: Jeff Buckley’s sole studio album, released in 1994, just three years before his early death.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• gracelike
  adjective
• ungraced
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• graces
  plural

Participles

• gracing
  present
• graced
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• grace
  simple
• graces
  simple
• have graced
  perfect
• has graced
  perfect
• am gracing
  progressive
• are gracing
  progressive
• is gracing
  progressive
• have been gracing
  perfect progressive
• has been gracing
  perfect progressive

Past

• graced
  simple
• had graced
  perfect
• was gracing
  progressive
• were gracing
  progressive
• had been gracing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will grace
  simple
• will have graced
  perfect
• will be gracing
  progressive
• will have been gracing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of grace

First recorded in 1125–75; Middle English, from Old French, from Latin grātia “favor, kindness, esteem,” derivative of grātus “pleasing”

Explanation

Grace commonly refers to a smooth and pleasing way of moving, or a polite and thoughtful way of behaving. But when someone says they were late to the airport and only made it onto their plane by the grace of God, they're talking about grace in the context of God's favor. "Social graces" are the skills needed for being polite, and if you are "in someone's good graces," they regard you with favor. In Middle English, the word grace originally meant "God's favor or help," a sense that we still use today. The related word gracious originally meant "filled with God's favor or help." Grace was borrowed from Old French, from Latin gratia, "pleasing quality, favor, thanks," from gratus, "pleasing."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

grace Grace graces graced gracing

"I go with good grace, I go with a smile, and I go proud of everything that we have achieved," he added.

From Barron's ● Jul. 20, 2026

The rule also cuts the departure grace period in half.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026

Under the new rules, foreign students will also now have 30 days to pack up and leave after graduation or change to a different visa category - down from the previous 60-day grace period.

From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026

Objectively, we can pick apart other people’s arguments, especially when it comes to when to claim Social Security, but we can allow him some grace for “what ifs.”

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026

All through the long night when he had left the palace she seemed to see him, his beauty and his grace, and to hear the words he had uttered.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton

MiniMax Group dropped 14%, while chip companies Semiconductor Manufacturing International Co. and Hua Hong Grace Semiconductor fell 9.4% and 11%, respectively.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

AI's ability to conjure up speedy responses to all kinds of questions "removes learning opportunities" from users, said Carnegie Mellon University doctoral student Grace Liu, the article's main author.

From Barron's ● Jul. 15, 2026

Times staff writers Karen Garcia and Grace Toohey contributed to this report.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026

This story was originally reported by Shefali Luthra and Grace Panetta of The 19th.

From Salon ● Jul. 14, 2026

Grace, another seventh grader, was, without a doubt, the smartest student in the whole school.

From "The Smartest Kid in the Universe" by Chris Grabenstein

Getting back into investors’ good graces will be an even longer journey.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026

But it’s not too late for other software stocks to fall back into Wall Street’s good graces.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 6, 2026

But the reverse is also true, and former antagonists can be rehabilitated, welcomed once again into the president's good graces.

From BBC ● Apr. 28, 2026

Mother Mary, then, has just reached her rock bottom, with Sam’s good graces barely cushioning her fall.

From Salon ● Apr. 24, 2026

He was still living on the Howards’ good graces.

From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand

Duff graced the stage at the Inglewood venue as part of her Lucky Me tour, her first global headlining tour in nearly two decades.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026

To mark 50 years of the History of Advertising Trust, we have put together a quiz about some well-known adverts that have graced UK TV screens over the years.

From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026

Other Canadians have graced the Eurovision stage: Annie Cotton represented Switzerland in 1993 with "Moi, Tout Simplement", finishing third -- the last French-language song to finish in the top three until 2021.

From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026

The Duke and Duchess of Windsor and Bing Crosby graced the reopening.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 6, 2026

The woman’s thin body was covered by a luxurious gown of icy blue, while a circlet of white gold graced the very top of her head.

From "Half Upon a Time" by James Riley

After she found out that the star would be gracing the Super Bowl stage, she posted a video of herself trying to master his lyrics.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 5, 2026

In 2022, she became the first to win a junior Grand Slam title with her US Open triumph, leading to the then-teenager gracing the cover of Vogue back home.

From BBC ● Jan. 20, 2026

The clubbers still gracing the doors aren't as loose with their cash as they used to be.

From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2025

Beyoncé kicked off her highly anticipated “Cowboy Carter” tour this week in Los Angeles at the SoFi Stadium, where she’ll be gracing the stage five times through May 9.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 2, 2025

Instead she dismissed them coolly with a nod, as if she had done them a favor by gracing them with her presence, even for a short while.

From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood

Related Words

• agility
• beauty
• decency
• decorum
• dexterity
• dignity
• ease
• elegance
• finesse
• poise
• refinement
• style