refine
Americanverb (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
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
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
refinernoun
-
prerefineverb (used with object)
-
superrefineverb (used with object)
-
refinableadjective
-
self-refiningadjective
-
unrefiningadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
refinesimple
-
refinessimple
-
have refinedperfect
-
has refinedperfect
-
am refiningprogressive
-
are refiningprogressive
-
is refiningprogressive
-
have been refiningperfect progressive
-
has been refiningperfect progressive
Past
-
refinedsimple
-
had refinedperfect
-
was refiningprogressive
-
were refiningprogressive
-
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
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina & New Orleans
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
"On Being Brought from Africa to America" by Phillis Wheatley
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
ReElement uses advanced separation technology to refine domestic and recycled feedstocks into rare-earth oxides.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
There are still many questions around the project in Kenya, not least where it will source the oil to refine and how it will be financed.
From Barron's ● Jul. 14, 2026
To truly compete with SpaceX, China will need to refine its technology and ensure that its breakthrough launch is backed up by future successes.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 10, 2026
Russia, one of the world's biggest oil producers, is struggling to refine enough fuel to meet domestic demand.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
Tomorrow he would find food and refine the camp and bring things back to sanity from the one completely insane day.
From "Hatchet" by Gary Paulsen
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
Sherritt’s interests in Cuba include Moa, an equal venture with General Nickel Co. of Cuba that mines, processes and refines nickel and cobalt.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026
Dangote refines both Nigerian and imported oil, so it is exposed to world market fluctuations.
From Barron's ● Apr. 30, 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
The billionaire built the sprawling facility to address an issue that has long vexed Nigeria—the West African nation is a major oil producer but exports almost all its crude to be refined abroad.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
Never mind that Platner’s true background is more refined than his campaign biography suggests.
From Slate ● Jul. 8, 2026
While later discoveries refined that picture, Bohr's model helped pave the way for modern quantum theory.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 5, 2026
In the months following, Pacala and Socolow refined that work, and BP remained closely involved.
From Salon ● Jun. 26, 2026
She pictures three-hundred-pound sacks of refined white sugar deep in the hulls of ships.
From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García
These strikes will come as painful blow given declining oil refining capacity and fuel shortages, in Crimea especially.
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026
In an article published on Substack, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, for many years Russia’s top oil tycoon and now a leading opposition figure, explained why the damage to the refining industry is so severe.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 7, 2026
More than 70% of these shipments originated on the Gulf Coast, home to more than half of U.S. refining capacity and numerous petrochemical facilities and fuel-export docks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 3, 2026
The gap ballooned early in the Iran war as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz throttled exports of diesel and oil suitable for refining it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
He would lose himself in thoughts of her, and plan his next letter, refining the phrases, trying to find comedy in the dullness.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
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.
