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Synonyms

gracile

American  
[gras-il] / ˈgræs ɪl /

adjective

  1. gracefully slender.

  2. slender; thin.


gracile British  
/ ˈɡræsaɪl /

adjective

  1. gracefully thin or slender

  2. a less common word for graceful

"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

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of gracile

First recorded in 1615–25, gracile is from the Latin word gracilis slender, slight, thin

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.

See Examples For:

Judging from its unique adaptations, this was a particularly gracile and innovative predator that possessed clawed digits primed for pouncing onto the backs of larger animals.

From New York Times Mar. 26, 2020

Early modern humans – more gracile, and perhaps quicker to adapt and take advantage of their environment – then migrated north from Africa to outpace and outlive the first Europeans.

From The Guardian Feb. 11, 2016

Amphibolurines include long-tailed, superficially iguana-like rainforest and woodland forms, short-snouted, spiny-bodied animals of dry woodlands and deserts, and a large number of slender, highly gracile semi-arboreal and desert-dwelling specialists.

From Scientific American Jan. 17, 2014

Several remarkably gracile, long-limbed teiioid species – informally grouped together as the sprinter teiioids – are swift pursuit predators of other squamates.

From Scientific American Apr. 1, 2013

The entire female skeleton differs from the male skeleton; all the bones are smaller and more gracile; the pelvis, as we have seen before, is shallower and wider.

From Woman Her Sex and Love Life by William J. Robinson

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