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:
The compound still requires further chemical refinement and must be tested in additional animal species before researchers can consider moving toward human clinical trials.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2026
Today it produces just 20 barrels a day -- enough to fill the tanks of only 20-30 cars after refinement.
From Barron's ● Sep. 26, 2026
Each additional symbol brought the opportunity to bring greater refinement of rhythm, feeling and clarity to the written word.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
The controversy is a "reminder", the article said, that "mere superficial popularity will not only fail to generate sustainable profits, but also lead to a loss of cultural refinement".
From BBC ● Jul. 3, 2026
After several rounds of refinement in the Langley wind tunnels, the Mustang achieved its apotheosis with the P-51D.
From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly
Progress in theoretical computer science often comes through incremental refinements rather than dramatic changes.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 30, 2026
“We decided that the importance of Dwyane warranted making those refinements rather than accepting something we believed could be improved.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026
All these refinements, and others, he gathered under his Roman dome with no sense of contradiction or anachronism.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
There have been multiple versions and refinements made to the fiscal rules by successive governments including the current one.
From BBC ● May 18, 2026
The observation excited the attention of the Austrian Erwin Schrödinger, who made some deft refinements and devised a handy system called wave mechanics.
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
