refinement
Americannoun
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fineness or elegance of feeling, taste, manners, language, etc.
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an instance of refined feeling, manners, etc.
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the act or process of refining.
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the quality or state of being refined.
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a subtle point or distinction.
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subtle reasoning.
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an improved, higher, or extreme form of something.
a refinement of the old system.
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Mathematics. a set whose elements include the elements of a given set.
noun
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the act of refining or the state of being refined
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a fine or delicate point, distinction, or expression; a subtlety
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fineness or precision of thought, expression, manners, etc; polish or cultivation
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a device, change, adaptation, etc, designed to improve performance or increase efficiency
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of refinement
Explanation
Do you know which fork is for your salad and which one is for dessert? Then you have some refinement — good manners and taste. Things that go through a process of refinement have been refined; they've lost their rough edges. For people, this means they have good manners, and for substances like oil and sugar, it means that their impurities have been removed. With refinement, things and people become more acceptable: the sugar's refinement makes it appropriate to serve at a fancy party, and your refinement makes you a perfect guest there.
Vocabulary lists containing refinement
"A Modest Proposal" by Jonathan Swift
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Vocabulary from "John L. O'Sullivan on 'Manifest Destiny' " from 1839
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"The Mixer" by P.G. Wodehouse
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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:
"All this comes with true excitement about the beauty, elegance, and refinement found in and produced by nature."
From Science Daily ● Jul. 16, 2026
"We want to bring glamour, we want to bring refinement, we want to bring grace back," Riyadh Air CEO Tony Douglas told AFP.
From Barron's ● Jun. 10, 2026
"There's going to be a refinement process," he said.
From BBC ● Apr. 29, 2026
Zumthor also seemed deeply pleased with the moment, saying, “I’ve always been happy,” and emphasized that working in L.A. taught him to embrace a certain frontier-like lack of refinement.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2026
Was some tested principle given a new and strange refinement because of fresh, remarkable evidence?
From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright
The escape from that lifestyle began in 1834 with Jacob Perkins’s patent for a vapor-compression cycle, though it took further refinements to create practical refrigeration.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026
"With certain refinements, it works even in complex materials where electrons interact strongly with one another."
From Science Daily ● Jan. 15, 2026
Carter Chapman, Kemp’s spokesperson, said Monday that the Kemp administration remains committed to Pathways and making refinements to meet the health care needs of Georgians.
From Salon ● Sep. 29, 2025
Now the big changes have bedded with further refinements carried out two years ago.
From BBC ● May 12, 2025
She began to plan all sorts of refinements: upper platforms to store food, a rope ladder, a barrier of thornbushes, a thatched roof to keep out rain.
From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer
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.
