noun
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dignified grace in appearance, movement, or behaviour
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good taste in design, style, arrangement, etc
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something elegant; a refinement
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of elegance
1500–10; < Middle French < Latin ēlegantia choiceness. See elegant, -ance
Explanation
Elegance is a quality of style and grace. In our age of jeans and sneakers, the elegance of actresses on the red carpet on Oscar night is such a welcome sight. It comes from the Latin elegantia, "taste, propriety, or refinement." Fashion designer and eternal fashion icon Coco Chanel famously said, "Elegance is refusal," meaning it's best to skip the big jewelry and flashy clothes in favor of simple styles made from luxurious fabrics that one could wear forever — and look great every time. Elegance also describes the beautiful simplicity of a solution, such as an elegant mathematical proof.
Vocabulary lists containing elegance
Our Town
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Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"
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"Novio Boy: Scene 7, Part 1" and "Oranges"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The bedraggled studio has been visually renovated with the wood-slatted elegance of Tesshi Nakagawa’s scenic design.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
Apart from one wild slog early in his innings, McKinney batted with a classical elegance while Rhodes was content to play the supporting role in a stand which stretched Durham's lead towards 300.
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026
"All this comes with true excitement about the beauty, elegance, and refinement found in and produced by nature."
From Science Daily ● Jul. 16, 2026
Pope’s elegance of phrase already has a sense of chilliness; Mr. Clark’s forceful enunciation is true to the text but adds no warmth.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
And the lindy-hopping there matched the size and elegance of the place.
From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
