ELEGANCE • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Elegance

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/ˈɛləgəns/ Listen

noun

Elegancy, Elegance n.

The state or quality of being elegant; beauty as resulting from choice qualities and the complete absence of what deforms or impresses unpleasantly; grace given by art or practice; fine polish; refinement; said of manners, language, style, form, architecture, etc. "That grace that elegance affords." "The endearing elegance of female friendship." "A trait of native elegance, seldom seen in the masculine character after childhood or early youth, was shown in the General's fondness for the sight and fragrance of flowers."

That which is elegant; that which is tasteful and highly attractive. "The beautiful wildness of nature, without the nicer elegancies of art."

Synonyms: Elegance, Grace. Elegance implies something of a select style of beauty, which is usually produced by art, skill, or training; as, elegance of manners, composition, handwriting, etc.; elegant furniture; an elegant house, etc. Grace, as the word is here used, refers to bodily movements, and is a lower order of beauty. It may be a natural gift; thus, the manners of a peasant girl may be graceful, but can hardly be called elegant.

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Etymology of 'Elegance'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Elegance" Quotes from Famous Books

... the difference was one of size. This work may be seen at a glance; yet does not tire one after survey. It has the freshness of the woods, and of morning dew. I admire those long lithe limbs, and that column of a throat. The Diana is a woman's ideal of beauty; its elegance, its spirit, its graceful, peremptory air, are what we like in our own sex: the Venus is for men. The sleeping Cleopatra cannot be looked at enough; always her sleep seems sweeter and more graceful, always more wonderful the drapery. A little ...

— Memoirs of Margaret Fuller Ossoli, Vol. I • Margaret Fuller Ossoli

... numerous: a certain bold faced countess, the fire in whose eyes had begun to tarnish, and the natural lines of whose figure were vanishing in expansion; the soldier, her nephew, a waisted elegance; a long, lean man, who dawdled with what he ate, and drank as if his bones thirsted; an elderly, broad; red faced, bull necked baron of the Hanoverian type; and two neighbouring lairds and their wives, ordinary, and well pleased to be at the ...

— Malcolm • George MacDonald

... the satisfaction of our little party as we first drove down through the streets of this capital of Europe—the centre of fashion and the abode of elegance. Our natures had adapted themselves to circumstances, and we no longer pined for the luxuries of the linum usitatissimum, but were ready to enter into all the pleasures of our new existence; which we well understood was to be ...

— Autobiography of a Pocket-Hankerchief • James Fenimore Cooper

... pretty, smartly dressed little woman, all airy elegance, but the usually smiling lips were compressed, and the smooth white brow was wrinkled with a frown. She was examining a book of photographs—most of them signed ...

— A Crooked Path - A Novel • Mrs. Alexander

... would give a house-warming, at which arrack, punch, wine, cold ham, tongue, and other delicacies of the day would be served. The event was duly noted in the newspapers, one stating that "the agreeable situation and the elegance of the new house had occasioned a great resort of company ...

— All About Coffee • William H. Ukers

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