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.
His ability to occupy those positions - with strong defending and elegance on the ball - replicates some of the work Stones did for City.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
Their fateful interactions are told through crisp flashes of memory, skillfully rendered with spare elegance by the translator Hillel Halkin.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 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
“Originally built in 2004, the property underwent a significant remodel in 2023/2024, blending timeless elegance with a fresh, light-filled space tailored for today’s modern lifestyle,” the listing read.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 29, 2026
Lew Armistead came forward and bowed silently, delicately, old courtly Lo, giving it a touch of elegance.
From "The Killer Angels: The Classic Novel of the Civil War" by Michael Shaara
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.
