elegant

[el-i-guhnt]

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.

   Synonyms: courtly, polished

3. graceful in form or movement.

   an elegant wave of the hand.

4. appropriate to refined taste.

   a man devoted to elegant pursuits.

5. excellent; fine; superior.

   an absolutely elegant wine.

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

elegant

/ ˈɛlɪɡənt /

adjective

1. tasteful in dress, style, or design

2. dignified and graceful in appearance, behaviour, etc

3. cleverly simple; ingenious

   an elegant solution to a problem

Other Word Forms

• elegantly adverb
• hyperelegant adjective
• hyperelegantly adverb
• overelegant adjective
• overelegantly adverb
• superelegant adjective
• superelegantly adverb
• unelegant adjective
• unelegantly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of elegant¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of elegant¹

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

Synonym Study

See fine ¹.

Example Sentences

"She was towed out of harbour looking really elegant and stunning for a 147-year-old ship, unaided, not needing any pumps," he said.

Read more on BBC

The scenes follow her attempts to shake off her dependency on Xavier, gliding in an elegant but wispy and uncentered way between memories, philosophical maunderings and embellishments of imagined interactions.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The elegant bathroom has a marble vanity and a large soaking tub.

Read more on MarketWatch

As high-tech as the home may be, it still has the same elegant yet comfortable family vibe that Harris and Burtka added when they lived there with their twins.

Read more on MarketWatch

Kate, picking through her desk drawers, finds sufficient articles to improvise an outfit for the new chief executive, one that makes her look acceptably, if temporarily, elegant.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• chic 
• classic 
• delicate 
• dignified 
• exquisite 
• fancy 
• fashionable 
• graceful 
• grand 
• handsome 
• luxurious 
• neat 
• opulent 
• ornate 
• polished 
• refined 
• silk-stocking 
• simple 
• stately 
• stylish