elegant

[ el-i-guhnt ]

adjective

1. tastefully fine or luxurious in dress, style, design, etc.:

   elegant furnishings.

2. gracefully refined and dignified, as in tastes, habits, or literary style:

   an elegant young gentleman; an elegant prosodist.

   Synonyms: courtly, polished

3. graceful in form or movement:

   an elegant wave of the hand.

4. appropriate to refined taste:

   a man devoted to elegant pursuits.

5. excellent; fine; superior:

   an absolutely elegant wine.

6. (of scientific, technical, or mathematical theories, solutions, etc.) gracefully concise and simple; admirably succinct.

elegant

/ ˈɛlɪɡənt /

adjective

1. tasteful in dress, style, or design
2. dignified and graceful in appearance, behaviour, etc
3. cleverly simple; ingenious

   an elegant solution to a problem

Derived Forms

• ˈelegantly, adverb

Other Words From

• ele·gant·ly adverb
• hyper·ele·gant adjective
• hyper·ele·gant·ly adverb
• over·ele·gant adjective
• over·ele·gant·ly adverb
• super·ele·gant adjective
• super·ele·gant·ly adverb
• un·ele·gant adjective
• un·ele·gant·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of elegant¹

First recorded in 1400–50; Late Middle English (from Middle French ), from Latin ēlegant- (stem of ēlegāns ) “tasteful, choice,” equivalent to ēleg- (akin to ēlig- “select”) + -ant- a suffix forming adjectives from verbs; originally the present participle of ēlegāre (unattested); elect, -ant

Word History and Origins

Origin of elegant¹

C16: from Latin ēlegāns tasteful, related to ēligere to select; see elect

Synonym Study

See fine ¹.

Example Sentences

She arrived for breakfast looking elegant in a black-and-white caftan, the picture of an Upper West Side matron, a matron without a sizable body count.

From New York Times

Brooks: Jon wanted this movie to have an old Hollywood feel; he wanted it to feel timeless and elegant and romantic.

From Los Angeles Times

"The cyanobacterial lineage evolved 2.7 billion years ago, and have an elegant solution to this information processing problem."

From Science Daily

But the room was clearly thick with a lot of love and anticipation for Theophilio creative director Edvin Thompson’s always sensual, elegant and sometimes irreverent vision.

From Los Angeles Times

Federer - known for his effortless movement, his elegant one-handed backhand and calm aura - could not do the same to Nadal at his favoured Slam.

From BBC

Related Words

• chic
• classic
• delicate
• dignified
• exquisite
• fancy
• fashionable
• graceful
• grand
• handsome
• luxurious
• neat
• opulent
• ornate
• polished
• refined
• silk-stocking
• simple
• stately
• stylish