refined
Americanadjective
-
having or showing well-bred feeling, taste, etc..
refined people.
-
freed or free from coarseness, vulgarity, etc..
refined taste.
-
freed from impurities.
refined sugar.
- Synonyms:
- distilled
-
very subtle, precise, or exact.
refined distinctions.
adjective
-
not coarse or vulgar; genteel, elegant, or polite
-
subtle; discriminating
-
freed from impurities; purified
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
Explanation
Something that's refined has gone through a process to remove impurities. An oil refinery removes impurities from oil. When a person's refined, they have good manners and good taste. A stereotypically refined lady will drink tea every day at four in the afternoon, lift her pinky while drinking, and select only refined (pure white, not raw) sugar as a sweetener. Someone with a refined taste in art has learned how to make judgments about what is good and what they like.
Vocabulary lists containing refined
The Diary of Anne Frank
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Chains
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A Streetcar Named Desire
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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.
It raises an obvious question: how can a relatively simple, low-cost material compete with highly refined silicon technology developed over decades?
From Science Daily • Apr. 10, 2026
The trip can take six weeks, so traders risk losing money if the Hormuz opens and prices for oil and refined products fall, he said.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 8, 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
Not only was it speaking in an almost-human voice— and a refined British one at that—but it held in its jowly mouth a pipe and on its face wore a pair of round, green-tinted glasses.
From "Hollow City" by Ransom Riggs
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.
