elegant

Etymology

From Late Middle English elegaunt, from Middle French elegant, ultimately from Latin ēlegāns.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛl.ə.ɡənt/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

elegant (comparative more elegant, superlative most elegant)

1. Characterised by or exhibiting elegance.
   • 2015 October 27, Matt Preston, The Simple Secrets to Cooking Everything Better‎, Plum, →ISBN, page 192:

     You could just use ordinary shop-bought kecap manis to marinade the meat, but making your own is easy, has a far more elegant fragrance and is, above all, such a great brag! Flavouring kecap manis is an intensely personal thing, so try this version now and next time cook the sauce down with crushed, split lemongrass and a shredded lime leaf.

2. Characterised by minimalism and intuitiveness while preserving exactness and precision.

   an elegant solution

   • 2025 February 19, Paul Clifton, “I am absolutely committed to reforming the railway”, in RAIL, number 1029, page 41:

     "For myself, because of the baggage of 30 years of balkanisation, I think the elegant solution is to take operations back into the public sector. It will mean you can have a whole-industry approach to running the railway, unencumbered by contractual differences."

3. (Ireland, colloquial, archaic) Fine; doing well.
   • 1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard:

     'An' how are ye, Jemmie—how's every inch iv you?' enquired Moggy of the boy, when his agitation was a little blown over.
     'I'm elegant, thank ye,' he answered; 'an' what's the matther wid ye all? I cum through the kitchen, and seen no one.'

Noun

elegant (plural elegants)

1. An elegant parrot.
   • 1895, The Avicultural Magazine, Volume 1, The Avicultural Society for the Study of Foreign and British Birds, page 22:

     But if the Aviarist be ambitious to keep the lovely, but destructive, members of the Parrot family, he must be content with grass alone, because Parrakeets (except the weak-billed Turquoisines and Elegants) would destroy the shrubs and trees in a day.

Anagrams

• angelet

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin ēlegantem.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ant

Adjective

elegant m or f (masculine and feminine plural elegants)

1. elegant

   Antonym: inelegant

Further reading

• “elegant” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “elegant”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “elegant” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “elegant” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Etymology

Borrowed from French élégant, from Latin ēlegāns.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /eləɡant/, [eləˈɡ̊anˀd̥]

Adjective

elegant

1. elegant, smart
2. elegant, neat
3. (adverbial) elegantly, smartly, neatly

References

• “elegant” in Den Danske Ordbog

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French elegant.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌeːləˈɣɑnt/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ele‧gant
• Rhymes: -ɑnt

Adjective

elegant (comparative eleganter, superlative elegantst)

1. elegant

Anagrams

• gelaten

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French elegant.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /eleˈɡant/, /eləˈɡant/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ant

Adjective

elegant (strong nominative masculine singular eleganter, comparative eleganter, superlative am elegantesten)

1. elegant

Further reading

• “elegant” in Duden online
• “elegant” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Verb

ēlēgant

1. third-person plural present active indicative of ēlēgō

Adjective

elegant m (feminine singular elegante, masculine plural elegants, feminine plural elegantes)

1. elegant

Etymology

From Latin elegans, via French élégant.

Adjective

elegant (neuter singular elegant, definite singular and plural elegante)

1. elegant

References

• “elegant” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Etymology

From Latin elegans, via French élégant.

Adjective

elegant (neuter singular elegant, definite singular and plural elegante)

1. elegant

References

• “elegant” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Alternative forms

• alegant (Kuyavia)

Etymology

Borrowed from French élégant, from Latin ēlegāns.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛˈlɛ.ɡant/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛɡant
• Syllabification: e‧le‧gant

Noun

elegant m pers (female equivalent elegantka, diminutive elegancik)

1. elegant man

Further reading

• elegant in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• elegant in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Etymology

Borrowed from French élégant, from Latin elegans.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

elegant m or n (feminine singular elegantă, masculine plural eleganți, feminine and neuter plural elegante)

1. tasteful

Etymology

From Latin elegans, via French élégant.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌɛlɛˈɡant/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

elegant (comparative elegantare, superlative elegantast)

1. elegant

Noun

elegant c

1. an elegance (person who is (doing something) elegant)

References

• elegant in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• elegant in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• elegant in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Anagrams

• legaten