elegant

[ el-i-guhnt ]
See synonyms for: elegantelegantly on Thesaurus.com

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.

  1. graceful in form or movement: an elegant wave of the hand.

  2. appropriate to refined taste: a man devoted to elegant pursuits.

  3. excellent; fine; superior: an absolutely elegant wine.

  4. (of scientific, technical, or mathematical theories, solutions, etc.) gracefully concise and simple; admirably succinct.

Origin of elegant

1
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); see origin at elect, -ant

synonym study For elegant

1. See fine1.

Other words for elegant

Other words from elegant

  • el·e·gant·ly, adverb
  • hy·per·el·e·gant, adjective
  • hy·per·el·e·gant·ly, adverb
  • o·ver·el·e·gant, adjective
  • o·ver·el·e·gant·ly, adverb
  • su·per·el·e·gant, adjective
  • su·per·el·e·gant·ly, adverb
  • un·el·e·gant, adjective
  • un·el·e·gant·ly, adverb

Words that may be confused with elegant

Words Nearby elegant

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use elegant in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for elegant

elegant

/ (ˈɛlɪɡənt) /


adjective
  1. tasteful in dress, style, or design

  2. dignified and graceful in appearance, behaviour, etc

  1. cleverly simple; ingenious: an elegant solution to a problem

Origin of elegant

1
C16: from Latin ēlegāns tasteful, related to ēligere to select; see elect

Derived forms of elegant

  • elegantly, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012