refine
Americanverb (used with object)
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refines,
present (3rd person singular)
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refined,
past participle, past
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refining
present participle
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to bring to a fine or a pure state; free from impurities.
to refine metal, sugar, or petroleum.
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to purify from what is coarse, vulgar, or debasing; make elegant or cultured.
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to bring to a finer state or form by purifying.
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to make more fine, subtle, or precise.
to refine one's writing style.
verb (used without object)
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refines,
present (3rd person singular)
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refined,
past participle, past
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refining
present participle
-
to become pure.
The silver is refining in the furnace.
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to become more fine, elegant, or polished.
His parents hope that his manners will refine as he gets older.
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to make fine distinctions in thought or language.
verb phrase
verb
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to make or become free from impurities, sediment, or other foreign matter; purify
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(tr) to separate (a mixture) into pure constituents, as in an oil refinery
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to make or become free from coarse characteristics; make or become elegant or polished
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to remove (something impure or extraneous)
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(intr; often foll by on or upon) to enlarge or improve (upon) by making subtle or fine distinctions
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(tr) to make (language) more subtle or polished
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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refinernoun
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prerefineverb (used with object)
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superrefineverb (used with object)
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refinableadjective
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self-refiningadjective
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unrefiningadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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refinesimple
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refinessimple
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have refinedperfect
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has refinedperfect
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am refiningprogressive
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are refiningprogressive
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is refiningprogressive
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have been refiningperfect progressive
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has been refiningperfect progressive
Past
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refinedsimple
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had refinedperfect
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was refiningprogressive
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were refiningprogressive
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had been refiningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of refine
Explanation
When you refine something, you make it better. Whether it's sugar or an essay, refining it requires fixing its flaws. You may think you created a masterpiece on the first try. But there's always room to refine. More than just working out the kinks, refining something means you're going to fine tune it, hone it to perfection, and make it more precise. In scientific terms, to refine something means to reduce it down to a pure state. At the dinner table, you can please grandma by refining your manners.
Vocabulary lists containing refine
Hatchet
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Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina & New Orleans
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"On Being Brought from Africa to America" by Phillis Wheatley
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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.
See Examples For:
LA28 said more tickets will be available on a first-come, first-served basis for every sport next year as organizers refine venue layouts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
To refine its packaging copy, Conagra is running word-association studies to test phrases like “good source of fiber” and “high in protein”—seeking claims that grab attention without sounding too clinical.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
Restaurant chains have tried to refine their chicken-sandwich recipes ever since Popeye’s chicken sandwich went viral about seven years ago.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026
He didn’t want to mix the track carefully to refine his statement.
From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2026
Indeed, scholars at Jundi Shapur invented new and better ways to refine cane into sugar.
From "Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom, and Science" by Marc Aronson
The creative team then reviews and refines multiple AI-generated versions of a scene before deciding which expressions and line readings best serve the story.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026
Middle Eastern producers can’t get their crude oil to Asia, which normally refines the oil into fuel and sends it to Europe and elsewhere.
From Barron's ● Apr. 23, 2026
China mines about 70% and refines 90% of the world’s rare earths, which are used in electronics, cars, medical imaging, missiles, fighter jets and more.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 2, 2026
Edwin Chen, whose 6-year-old business Surge AI refines AI models, is the wealthiest of the new class of AI billionaires, worth about $18 billion.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 10, 2026
A race builds itself for a million years, refines itself, erects cities like those out there, does everything it can to give itself respect and beauty, and then it dies.
From "The Martian Chronicles" by Ray Bradbury
Using those comparisons, researchers refined the location of the crater's center to 19.4759°N, 266.7138°E, at an elevation of 511 meters.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 20, 2026
In the Middle East, the war has curtailed flows through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway that carries large volumes of Gulf oil and refined products.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
The recent subdued action in crude belies a bigger problem brewing in refined products such as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 16, 2026
Athletes have become more refined with their training techniques.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
Lincoln can clearly see that Richmond—or what’s left of it— barely resembles the refined city it was.
From "Lincoln's Last Days: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever" by Bill O'Reilly
Tommee Larochelle, an engineer and specialist in the development of rare earths extraction and refining processes, questions the commercial viability of the WVU project but says it could "ensure minimum supply to the defense industry."
From Barron's ● Aug. 22, 2026
The US government has been pouring money into the development of companies specializing in separation, refining and magnet production.
From Barron's ● Aug. 22, 2026
Most of that is oil which will be shipped to Europe for refining before being sold on the open market.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
That’s mainly because global refining capacity for finished fuels is severely constrained by geopolitical conflicts and facility disruptions, even as crude supplies remain relatively stable.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 16, 2026
Goldman worked on his decision tree for years, steadily refining and perfecting it.
From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell
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.
