well-turned

[ wel-turnd ]

See synonyms for well-turned on Thesaurus.com

adjective

gracefully shaped: a well-turned ankle.
gracefully and concisely expressed: a well-turned phrase.

Origin of well-turned

First recorded in 1610–20

Words Nearby well-turned

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use well-turned in a sentence

She was perfectly composed, occasionally flashing a wry smile and speaking in thoughtful, well-turned phrases.
The Woman Who Tried to Kill Me | Lloyd Grove | May 29, 2009 | THE DAILY BEAST
So how weird is it to see something you know so well turned into fiction?
Diane Sawyer on Fact vs. Fiction in Frost/Nixon | Lynn Sherr | December 6, 2008 | THE DAILY BEAST
I fancy it was pretty well turned, and that made the wrench during the small hours the more severe.
Ancestors | Gertrude Atherton
His staff were by no means so well turned out, but the few hussars of the escort were stout, soldierlike-looking fellows.
The British Expedition to the Crimea | William Howard Russell
Once double-plowed, or thoroughly subsoiled, and well turned over, is better than more.
Soil Culture | J. H. Walden

The supporting base consists of four exquisitely turned columns, braced at bottom with correspondingly well-turned crossbars.
Terrestrial and Celestial Globes Vol II | Edward Luther Stevenson
The songs were numerous and well-turned, and certain details of the travestie were ingenious.
A Book of Burlesque | Willam Davenport Adams

British Dictionary definitions for well-turned

well-turned

adjective(well turned when postpositive)

(of a phrase, speech, etc) apt and pleasingly sonorous
having a pleasing shape: a well-turned leg

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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