svelte

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

Contents 1 English 1.1 Etymology 1.2 Pronunciation 1.3 Adjective 1.3.1 Usage notes 1.3.2 Synonyms 2 Italian 2.1 Adjective

[edit] English

[edit] Etymology

From French svelte, from Italian svelto (“‘stretched out’”).

[edit] Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈsvɛlt/ SAMPA: /"svElt/
•  Audio (US)^{help, file}

[edit] Adjective

svelte (comparative svelter, superlative sveltest)

1. Attractively thin; gracefully slender.
   • 2007 January 19, Charles Isherwood, “Welterweight Bialystock Treads Softly on Big Shtick”, New York Times:

     Clearly the producers of “The Producers” were so little inclined to tinker with a winning formula that they chose not to excise a few lines of dialogue to accommodate the svelter physique of their new leading man, preposterous though it is that anyone in a fit of pique would deride a fellow as “once-husky.”

[edit] Usage notes

• Used mainly as a compliment, whereas words like thin and skinny could be used in negative connotations.

[edit] Synonyms

• Wikisaurus has an entry for “thin” in the sense of “skinny”.

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[edit] Italian

[edit] Adjective

svelte f.

1. Feminine plural form of svelto.