Synonyms

refine

American

[ri-fahyn] / rɪˈfaɪn /

verb (used with object)

to bring to a fine or a pure state; free from impurities.

to refine metal, sugar, or petroleum.
to purify from what is coarse, vulgar, or debasing; make elegant or cultured.
to bring to a finer state or form by purifying.
to make more fine, subtle, or precise.

to refine one's writing style.

verb (used without object)

to become pure.

The silver is refining in the furnace.
to become more fine, elegant, or polished.

His parents hope that his manners will refine as he gets older.
to make fine distinctions in thought or language.

verb phrase

refine on / upon to improve by inserting finer distinctions, superior elements, etc..

to refine on one's previous work.

refine British

/ rɪˈfaɪn /

verb

to make or become free from impurities, sediment, or other foreign matter; purify
(tr) to separate (a mixture) into pure constituents, as in an oil refinery
to make or become free from coarse characteristics; make or become elegant or polished
to remove (something impure or extraneous)
(intr; often foll by on or upon) to enlarge or improve (upon) by making subtle or fine distinctions
(tr) to make (language) more subtle or polished

"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

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of refine

First recorded in 1575–85; re- + fine ¹

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.

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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:

refine refines refined refining

Moving it through a pipeline and into a tanker requires treatment that would add $15 a barrel to its cost, he estimates, not counting the specialized equipment needed to refine it.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026

According to Asymmetric, the agents were able to refine their techniques in a matter of days, a process that typically takes traditional hackers months or even years.

From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026

Greggs said it launched a consultation and work with trade unions and employee representatives to refine and develop its plans.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026

Diesel is harder to refine than gasoline and, because it is used by the haulage industry and in agriculture, it is very difficult to reduce demand.

From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026

There they began to apply skills they had learned from the Muslims: how to plant sugar cane, and how to refine 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

The company refines its AI model using input from customers, who say they like knowing that a package arrived while they were in a meeting or that a family member got home safely.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 5, 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

Elon Musk said Thursday that Tesla’s Optimus robots should be available to the public by the end of next year, after the company refines the technology.

From MarketWatch ● Jan. 22, 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

Adnoc L&S supports offshore drilling projects and operates more than 100 ships used to transport crude oil, liquefied natural gas and refined products globally.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

However, refined product flows remain largely constrained, with diesel supply balances very tight, said McNally.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 12, 2026

Global oil supplies have been restricted since the conflict in the Middle East effectively halted the usual flow of oil and refined products through the Strait of Hormuz for months.

From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026

Putin echoed Trump’s statement, saying Moscow “reaffirmed its readiness to supply oil and refined products to the American and global markets.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

“I don’t know how much they refined it,” I said.

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss

TotalEnergies’ refining output increased 10% over the quarter, the company said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

TotalEnergies expects to report exceptional third-quarter results from its downstream business after refining margins jumped.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

European diesel refining margins fell from around $100 a barrel to close to $60 by early October, according to the IEA.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026

Shell and other oil majors are seeing "an unprecedented widening of the refining spread", said Kathleen Brooks, research director at trading group XTB.

From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026

In Europe, another innovator, Charles Babbage, born the son of a banker in 1791, was developing an early calculating machine at the time that Morse was refining and evangelizing the telegraph.

From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023