- past tense form of streamline.
- past participle of streamline.
streamlined
Americanadjective
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having a contour designed to offer the least possible resistance to a current of air, water, etc.; optimally shaped for motion or conductivity.
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designed or organized to give maximum efficiency; compact.
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modernized; up-to-date.
adjective
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offering or designed to offer the minimum resistance to the flow of a gas or liquid
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made more efficient, esp by simplifying
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of streamlined
First recorded in 1890–95; streamline + -ed 2
Explanation
Something that works better because it's been made more efficient or modern is streamlined. Your streamlined system for printing flyers advertising your yard sale means you can print them much faster than before. There are two ways to use the adjective streamlined. First, there's the simplified, more efficient system, like a streamlined healthcare system or a streamlined driver's license process. The second meaning is "sleek" or "aerodynamic." The streamlined shape of a bullet train means it can travel much faster than older, rectangular train cars. The original meaning of streamline, from the 1850s, was "line drawn from point to point, so that its direction is everywhere that of the motion of the fluid." So an object, such as an aircraft or watercraft, that is streamlined has smooth, flowing curves, contoured to offer the least resistance to the flow of air or water.
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.
He’s streamlined the drama to an hour and 40 minutes and cut and combined some characters, though he promises that audiences will be encountering “the whole play.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
She said New Jersey has streamlined the filmmaking process in a way California hasn’t.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
Organisers said the streamlined format, which featured 10 sports across four locations in Glasgow, had "saved and reinvented" the competition after its future was placed in doubt when original hosts Victoria pulled out.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
The company eventually halted some remodels and parted ways with a marketing firm it had worked with on the new logo, and streamlined leadership.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
Bluish- white smoke from early-morning braziers billowed upward in streamlined wisps.
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
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.
