elegant

B2 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈel.ə.ɡənt/ UK /ˈɛl.ə.ɡənt/ See IPA manual

Freq #5839

Meanings

1

adj
Graceful and stylish in a way that shows good taste.

She wore an elegant black dress to the dinner.
2

adj
Pleasingly simple and clever, especially in solving a problem.

The engineer came up with an elegant solution to the design problem.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · graceful and stylish in a... classy graceful refined

Word family

Derived forms elegance elegancyelegantnesshyperelegantoverelegantpiss-elegantsuperelegantswellegantultraelegantunelegant

Related forms elect eligible elite

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

elegant handwriting
writing by hand that looks graceful, refined, and pleasing

Adjective + noun

Simplified etymology

Elegant came into late Middle English from Old French élégant or Latin elegans, related to Latin eligere “to choose or select.” Its underlying idea was discernment and careful choice, from which its modern associations with refinement and stylish appearance developed.

Etymology

From Late Middle English elegaunt, from Middle French elegant, ultimately from Latin ēlegāns, collateral form of present participle of ēligere, from ex- (“out of, from”) + legō (“choose, select, appoint”).

*leǵ- Proto-Indo-European elegaunt Middle English elegant Middle French ēlegāns Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# elegant

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈel.ə.ɡənt/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈɛl.ə.ɡənt/
**Frequency rank:** 5839

## Meanings
1. Graceful and stylish in a way that shows good taste.
2. Pleasingly simple and clever, especially in solving a problem.

## Examples
- She wore an elegant black dress to the dinner.
- The engineer came up with an elegant solution to the design problem.

## Derived Forms
- elegance
- elegancy
- elegantness
- hyperelegant
- overelegant
- piss-elegant
- superelegant
- swellegant
- ultraelegant
- unelegant

## Related Forms
- elect
- eligible
- elite

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *leǵ-
- Root: elegaunt
- Root: elegant
- Root: ēlegāns

## Etymology
From Late Middle English elegaunt, from Middle French elegant, ultimately from Latin ēlegāns, collateral form of present participle of ēligere, from ex- (“out of, from”) + legō (“choose, select, appoint”).

## AI Etymology
Elegant comes from Late Middle English elegaunt, from Middle French elegant, ultimately from Latin ēlegāns, collateral form of present participle of ēligere, from ex- (“out of, from”) + legō (“choose, select, appoint”). In current use, the main senses are “Graceful and stylish in a way that shows good taste” and “Pleasingly simple and clever, especially in solving a problem”.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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