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.
Last season, trapped inside Lumon's brutalist architecture and sanitised walls, crunching mysterious numbers for the "Macrodata Refinement team", the team was fed cultish Soviet-esque propaganda about company founder Kier Eagan and his family.
From BBC • Jan. 17, 2025
In the world of "Severance" many questions jump from reality to reality, like the numbers the Macrodata Refinement division watch floating around the screens of their "Being John Malkovich"-esque desktops.
From Salon • Apr. 9, 2022
Refinement is the last part of a project.
From Nature • Jul. 10, 2013
Refinement, authenticity and restraint define the products that are coveted in this territory.
From New York Times • May 24, 2012
He complains the Refinement of our Language has hitherto been trusted to illiterate Court Fops, Half-witted Poets, and University Boys.
From Reflections on Dr. Swift's Letter to Harley (1712) and The British Academy (1712) by Landa, Louis A.
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.
