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
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); see origin at elect, -ant
Explanation
Nimble ballerinas and long-legged birds are elegant; dump trucks and walruses usually are not. Being graceful and refined are aspects of being elegant. That word first appears in English in the 15th century. It comes, via Old French, from the same Latin source that gave rise to the English word "elect, and it does seem that especially elegant people and things are in a select group. Very stylishly dressed men and women are elegant, and fine restaurants with distinctive delicacies are elegant. Most ordinary places and people can become elegant, though, when dressed up or adorned for special occasions. Even walruses can appear elegant when they're swimming.
Vocabulary lists containing elegant
Call of Beauty: Synonyms for "Beautiful"
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Bronx Masquerade
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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
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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.
More affecting is Malta's elegant and sentimental ballad Bella, sung by moustachioed troubadour Aidan.
From BBC • May 8, 2026
On paper, Roth conversions sound elegant: Move money from a pretax account to a Roth, pay tax now, reduce future tax risk.
From MarketWatch • May 8, 2026
Kiara Brokenbrough’s 2022 wedding to Joel Brokenbrough drew national headlines for its elegant simplicity on a $500 budget.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 30, 2026
Meal one: Something saucy, a little elegant Early in the week, I like to lean into moisture — something that coaxes the chicken back to life in a way that feels intentional, not remedial.
From Salon • Apr. 26, 2026
Tall, elegant town houses and a few fashion boutiques lined the street, and there was a fancy florist shop on the corner.
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
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.
