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Showing results for refined. Search instead for refired.
Synonyms

refined

American  
[ri-fahynd] / rɪˈfaɪnd /

adjective

  1. having or showing well-bred feeling, taste, etc..

    refined people.
    Synonyms:
    elegant, genteel, courtly, civilized, courteous, polite, polished, cultivated
    Antonyms:
    crude, coarse, rude

  2. freed or free from coarseness, vulgarity, etc..

    refined taste.

  3. freed from impurities.

    refined sugar.
    Synonyms:
    distilled

  4. very subtle, precise, or exact.

    refined distinctions.
refined British  
/ rɪˈfaɪnd /

adjective

  1. not coarse or vulgar; genteel, elegant, or polite

  2. subtle; discriminating

  3. freed from impurities; purified

"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

  • half-refined adjective
  • nonrefined adjective
  • quasi-refined adjective
  • refinedly adverb
  • refinedness noun
  • semirefined adjective
  • superrefined adjective
  • ultrarefined adjective
  • well-refined adjective

Etymology

Origin of refined

First recorded in 1565–75; refine + -ed 2

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.

“Even if we get back to normal transit, some of that five million barrels a day of refined materials sourced from the Gulf will be lost for months, possibly even longer,” Mills said.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 6, 2026

In the popular imagination geishas are often confused with courtesans but their work as trained masters of refined old artforms does not involve selling sex.

From Barron's • Apr. 3, 2026

Architecture by Swedroe Architecture, with interiors by Oggi Design House, aims to deliver a more refined, design-forward residential experience along the Treasure Coast.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 1, 2026

It would take some weeks to be refined and distributed and could last a few weeks once it is in use.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 1, 2026

When Don Lucho finds out we’re practicing refined manners, after a lot of teasing, he lends me Modem Etiquette, a well- worn paperback with water-stained, yellowed pages.

From "The Queen of Water" by Laura Resau

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.