gracile
Americanadjective
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gracefully slender.
-
slender; thin.
adjective
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gracefully thin or slender
-
a less common word for graceful
Other Word Forms
- gracileness noun
- gracility noun
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.
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
A short-snouted, orca-like skull shape is present in Temnodontosaurus eurycephalus, a markedly elongate, pointed rostrum is present in T. acutirostris and a markedly gracile, possibly edentulous rostrum is present in T. azerguensis, for example.
From Scientific American • Jan. 30, 2014
Ozdracians include long-tailed, gracile climbers like the diporiphorans, large predators like the Uberpogona shown here, and innumerable small, desert- and scrubland-dwelling generalists, insectivores and burrowers.
From Scientific American • Apr. 1, 2013
Abdomen elongatum, gracile, in maribus 6-articulatum, articulo ultimo duobus uncis incurvatis approximantibus; valvis latis, incrassatis, truncatis, aduncis.
From Zoological Illustrations, Volume I or Original Figures and Descriptions of New, Rare, or Interesting Animals by Swainson, William
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.
