Synonyms Examples Word Origin
See more synonyms for refined on Thesaurus.com having or showing well-bred feeling, taste, etc.: refined people. freed or free from coarseness, vulgarity, etc.: refined taste. freed from impurities: refined sugar. very subtle, precise, or exact: refined distinctions. Show More
Origin of refined First recorded in
1565–75; refine +
-ed2 Related forms re·fin·ed·ly [ri-fahy -nid-lee, -fahynd -] /rɪˈfaɪ nɪd li, -ˈfaɪnd-/ adverb re·fin·ed·ness , noun half-re·fined , adjective non·re·fined , adjective qua·si-re·fined , adjective sem·i·re·fined , adjective su·per·re·fined , adjective ul·tra·re·fined , adjective well-re·fined , adjective verb (used with object), re·fined, re·fin·ing. 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. Show More
verb (used without object), re·fined, re·fin·ing. 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. Show More
refine on /upon , to improve by inserting finer distinctions, superior elements, etc.: to refine on one's previous work. Show More
Origin of refine First recorded in
1575–85; re- +
fine1 Related forms re·fin·a·ble , adjective re·fin·er , noun pre·re·fine , verb (used with object), pre·re·fined, pre·re·fin·ing. self-re·fin·ing , adjective su·per·re·fine , verb (used with object), su·per·re·fined, su·per·re·fin·ing. un·re·fin·ing , adjective Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words for refined precise ,
polished ,
tasteful ,
cultivated ,
discriminating ,
elegant ,
genteel ,
delicate ,
classy ,
subtle ,
sophisticated ,
urbane ,
processed ,
pure ,
purified ,
exact ,
discerning ,
enlightened ,
fine ,
restrained Examples from the Web for refined Contemporary Examples of refined To produce deliciously smooth drams of single malt, the region has refined the ancient art of distillation.
In refined form, sugar (also known as sucrose) has been linked to everything from heart disease to diabetes.
From the refined attire at Lincoln Center to the avant-garde dress downtown, we spotted many of the big 2014 trends.
Stacks of refined (left) and crude (right) Tin ingots after smelting.
Refined , elegant, and to the manor born, Betty is everything that Don is not.
Historical Examples of refined Sympathetic persons are apt to assume that every refined emotion must be ennobling.
Major Harper, the oldest, most refined and most soldierly of them all, was also the handsomest.
But it is in graceful, refined France that cookery is and has been, a pet art.
His accent was none of the Elberthal one; it was fine, refined , polished.
Not in vain you live, for every passing eye is cheered and refined by the vision.
British Dictionary definitions for refined not coarse or vulgar; genteel, elegant, or polite subtle; discriminating freed from impurities; purified Show More
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 (tr often foll by out ) 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 Show More
Derived Forms refinable , adjective Word Origin for refine C16: from re- + fine 1
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for refined adj. 1570s, "subtle;" 1580s, "elegant;" 1590s, "purified," past participle adjective from refine (v.).
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v. 1580s, of metals, c.1590 of manners, from re- , intensive prefix, + obsolete fine (v.) "make fine," from fine (adj.) "delicate." Cf. French raffiner , Italian raffinare , Spanish refinar . General and figurative sense is recorded from 1590s; of sugar, from 1610s. Related: Refined ; refining .
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
To reduce to a pure state; purify. Show More
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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