refinement
Americannoun
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refinements
plural
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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:
Silicon technology has benefited from decades of refinement, allowing manufacturers to produce dielectric materials capable of controlling progressively smaller devices.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 9, 2026
Bulldozers are already at work on the resort, which the company touts as a “blend of elegance and adventure…where wilderness and refinement live side by side.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 5, 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
I note that, in the interests of refinement, the base 2.5-liter inline-four is equipped with semiactive engine mounts with electronic damping control.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 6, 2026
“There is no culture or refinement here. That’s what I detest about this restaurant,” Zell said.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
He devoted years to technical refinements to how the government measures medical costs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
Red Bull, like McLaren and Ferrari, brought a major upgrade to their car for this weekend, and while McLaren's worked well early on, refinements from Red Bull and Mercedes left the sprint winners trailing.
From BBC ● May 2, 2026
Medvedev believes the core mechanism behind the zebra stripes is now largely understood, though further refinements may improve precision.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 28, 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
The final refinements of the coordinates were finished the following evening.
From "Double Helix" by James D. Watson
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.
