elegant
Americanadjective
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tastefully fine or luxurious in dress, style, design, etc..
elegant furnishings.
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gracefully refined and dignified, as in tastes, habits, or literary style.
an elegant young gentleman; an elegant prosodist.
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graceful in form or movement.
an elegant wave of the hand.
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appropriate to refined taste.
a man devoted to elegant pursuits.
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excellent; fine; superior.
an absolutely elegant wine.
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(of scientific, technical, or mathematical theories, solutions, etc.) gracefully concise and simple; admirably succinct.
adjective
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tasteful in dress, style, or design
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dignified and graceful in appearance, behaviour, etc
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cleverly simple; ingenious
an elegant solution to a problem
Related Words
See fine 1.
Other Word Forms
- elegantly adverb
- hyperelegant adjective
- hyperelegantly adverb
- overelegant adjective
- overelegantly adverb
- superelegant adjective
- superelegantly adverb
- unelegant adjective
- unelegantly adverb
Etymology
Origin of elegant
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
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.
For the first time, families in Rochester had household staff, elegant evening clothes, and places to wear them.
From Literature
The kitchen also emphasizes an open floor plan that shows off their chic living area, which boasts an elegant marble fireplace.
From MarketWatch
After the thrills and spills of the ice hockey, the Games will close in the elegant surroundings of Verona.
From Barron's
That elegant dance matches what we see on stage, the kabuki performances melding melancholy and beauty, anguish and catharsis.
From Los Angeles Times
Tennyson’s later works were mostly elegant, noble and dull.
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.
