elegant

See also: Elegant, élégant, and êlégant

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈɛl.ə.ɡənt/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General Australian, New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈel.ə.ɡənt/
• Hyphenation: el‧e‧gant

Adjective

elegant (comparative more elegant, superlative most elegant)

1. Characterised by or exhibiting elegance; having grace, refinement, or tasteful simplicity.

   Synonyms: classy, graceful, refined, dressy

   Antonyms: inelegant, clumsy

   • 2015 October 27, Matt Preston, The Simple Secrets to Cooking Everything Better‎^[2], 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.

   Antonyms: inelegant, sloppy, haphazard

   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.'

Usage notes

In the early 20th century, often used ironically to mean "overrefined". This sarcastic connotation has now largely fallen out of use, leading to confusion about some derived terms such as elegant variation.

Derived terms

• elegance
• elegancy
• elegant crested tinamou
• elegantness
• elegant parrot
• elegant quail
• elegant tit
• elegant variation
• hyperelegant
• overelegant
• piss-elegant
• superelegant
• swellegant
• ultraelegant
• unelegant

Related terms

• elect
• eligible
• elite

Translations

exhibiting elegance

• Arabic: ظَرِيف (ẓarīf), أَنِيق (ʔanīq)
• Armenian: էլեգանտ (ēlegant), նրբագեղ (hy) (nrbageġ)
• Assamese: শুৱলা (xuola)
• Bulgarian: елегантен (bg) (eleganten), изискан (bg) (iziskan)
• Catalan: elegant (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 典雅 (zh) (diǎnyǎ), 文雅 (zh) (wényǎ), 高雅 (zh) (gāoyǎ)

• Czech: elegantní
• Danish: elegant (da)
• Dutch: elegant (nl), sierlijk (nl), gracieus (nl)
• Esperanto: eleganta
• Finnish: elegantti (fi), aistikas (fi), hienostunut (fi)
• French: élégant (fr)
• Galician: elegante (gl)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: elegant (de), schick (de)
• Greek: κομψός (el) (kompsós)

  Ancient Greek: κομψός (kompsós)

• Hebrew: אֶלֶגַנְטִי (he) (elegánti), מְהֻדָּר (he) (mehudár)
• Hindi: शोभनीय (hi) (śobhnīya)
• Hungarian: elegáns (hu), előkelő (hu)
• Irish: galánta
• Italian: elegante (it)
• Japanese: 優雅な (ja) (ゆうがな, yūga-na), 立派な (ja) (りっぱな, rippa-na), 高雅な (ja) (こうがな, kōga-na), 典雅な (ja) (てんがな, tenga-na)
• Kabuverdianu: janóta
• Khmer: ឆើតឆាយ (chaətchaay)
• Korean: 우아한 (uahan)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: شۆخ (şox)

• Latin: facētus, ēlegans, lautus, venustus
• Macedonian: елега́нтен (elegánten), пре́финет (préfinet), о́тмен (ótmen)
• Māori: huatau, purotu, tōrire
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Polish: elegancki (pl), wytworny (pl)
• Portuguese: elegante (pt)
• Russian: элега́нтный (ru) (elegántnyj), шика́рный (ru) (šikárnyj), изя́щный (ru) (izjáščnyj)
• Sanskrit: रसिक (sa) (rasika)
• Serbo-Croatian: elegantan (sh)
• Spanish: elegante (es), chic (es), paltón (es) m (Chile), picudo (Mexico), glaxo (Colombia)
• Swedish: elegant (sv)
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: zarif (tr), kibar (tr), şık (tr)

  Ottoman Turkish: نازك (nâzik)

• Unami: ahinakwsi
• Urdu: شائسته
• Vietnamese: thanh lịch (vi), tao nhã (vi)

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

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin ēlegantem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [ə.ləˈɣan]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [ə.ləˈɣant]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [e.leˈɣant]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ant

Adjective

elegant m or f (masculine and feminine plural elegants)

1. elegant

   Antonym: inelegant

Derived terms

• elegantment

Related terms

• elegància
• inelegant

Further reading

• “elegant”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “elegant”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “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.

Danish

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

Inflection

Inflection of elegant

	positive	comparative	superlative
indefinite common singular	elegant	elegantere	elegantest2
indefinite neuter singular	elegant	elegantere	elegantest2
plural	elegante	elegantere	elegantest2
definite attributive1	elegante	elegantere	eleganteste

¹ When an adjective is applied predicatively to something definite,
the corresponding "indefinite" form is used.
² The "indefinite" superlatives may not be used attributively.

Derived terms

• uelegant

References

• “elegant” in Den Danske Ordbog

Dutch

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

Declension

Declension of elegant
uninflected	elegant
inflected	elegante
comparative	eleganter
		positive	comparative	superlative
predicative/adverbial		elegant	eleganter	het elegantst het elegantste
indefinite	m./f. sing.	elegante	elegantere	elegantste
	n. sing.	elegant	eleganter	elegantste
	plural	elegante	elegantere	elegantste
definite		elegante	elegantere	elegantste
partitive		elegants	eleganters	—

Synonyms

• sierlijk
• gracieus

Antonyms

• lomp
• plomp

Derived terms

• elegantie

Anagrams

• gelaten

German

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French elegant.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /eleˈɡant/, /eləˈɡant/

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ant

Adjective

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

1. elegant

Declension

Positive forms of elegant

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist elegant	sie ist elegant	es ist elegant	sie sind elegant
strong declension (without article)	nominative	eleganter	elegante	elegantes	elegante
	genitive	eleganten	eleganter	eleganten	eleganter
	dative	elegantem	eleganter	elegantem	eleganten
	accusative	eleganten	elegante	elegantes	elegante
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der elegante	die elegante	das elegante	die eleganten
	genitive	des eleganten	der eleganten	des eleganten	der eleganten
	dative	dem eleganten	der eleganten	dem eleganten	den eleganten
	accusative	den eleganten	die elegante	das elegante	die eleganten
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein eleganter	eine elegante	ein elegantes	(keine) eleganten
	genitive	eines eleganten	einer eleganten	eines eleganten	(keiner) eleganten
	dative	einem eleganten	einer eleganten	einem eleganten	(keinen) eleganten
	accusative	einen eleganten	eine elegante	ein elegantes	(keine) eleganten

Comparative forms of elegant

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist eleganter	sie ist eleganter	es ist eleganter	sie sind eleganter
strong declension (without article)	nominative	eleganterer	elegantere	eleganteres	elegantere
	genitive	eleganteren	eleganterer	eleganteren	eleganterer
	dative	eleganterem	eleganterer	eleganterem	eleganteren
	accusative	eleganteren	elegantere	eleganteres	elegantere
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der elegantere	die elegantere	das elegantere	die eleganteren
	genitive	des eleganteren	der eleganteren	des eleganteren	der eleganteren
	dative	dem eleganteren	der eleganteren	dem eleganteren	den eleganteren
	accusative	den eleganteren	die elegantere	das elegantere	die eleganteren
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein eleganterer	eine elegantere	ein eleganteres	(keine) eleganteren
	genitive	eines eleganteren	einer eleganteren	eines eleganteren	(keiner) eleganteren
	dative	einem eleganteren	einer eleganteren	einem eleganteren	(keinen) eleganteren
	accusative	einen eleganteren	eine elegantere	ein eleganteres	(keine) eleganteren

Superlative forms of elegant

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist am elegantesten	sie ist am elegantesten	es ist am elegantesten	sie sind am elegantesten
strong declension (without article)	nominative	elegantester	eleganteste	elegantestes	eleganteste
	genitive	elegantesten	elegantester	elegantesten	elegantester
	dative	elegantestem	elegantester	elegantestem	elegantesten
	accusative	elegantesten	eleganteste	elegantestes	eleganteste
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der eleganteste	die eleganteste	das eleganteste	die elegantesten
	genitive	des elegantesten	der elegantesten	des elegantesten	der elegantesten
	dative	dem elegantesten	der elegantesten	dem elegantesten	den elegantesten
	accusative	den elegantesten	die eleganteste	das eleganteste	die elegantesten
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein elegantester	eine eleganteste	ein elegantestes	(keine) elegantesten
	genitive	eines elegantesten	einer elegantesten	eines elegantesten	(keiner) elegantesten
	dative	einem elegantesten	einer elegantesten	einem elegantesten	(keinen) elegantesten
	accusative	einen elegantesten	eine eleganteste	ein elegantestes	(keine) elegantesten

Related terms

• Elegant
• Eleganz

Further reading

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

Latin

Verb

ēlēgant

1. third-person plural present active indicative of ēlēgō

Middle French

Adjective

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

1. elegant

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Latin elegans, via French élégant.

Adjective

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

1. elegant

Related terms

• eleganse

References

• “elegant” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Latin elegans, via French élégant.

Adjective

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

1. elegant

Related terms

• eleganse

References

• “elegant” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Polish

Alternative forms

• alegant (Kuyavia, Western Lublin, Wąwolnica)
• aligant (Podlachia)

Etymology

Borrowed from French élégant, from Latin ēlegāns.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ɛˈlɛ.ɡant/

• (Masovia):
  • (Łowicz) IPA^(key): [ɛˈlɛ.ɡant]

• Audio:

  (file)

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

Noun

elegant m pers (female equivalent elegantka, diminutive elegancik)

1. elegant man

Declension

Declension of elegant

	singular	plural
nominative	elegant	eleganci/eleganty (deprecative)
genitive	eleganta	elegantów
dative	elegantowi	elegantom
accusative	eleganta	elegantów
instrumental	elegantem	elegantami
locative	elegancie	elegantach
vocative	elegancie	eleganci

Further reading

• elegant in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• elegant in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• Marzena Kozanecka-Zwierz, Magdalena Bartosiewicz, Renata Marciniak-Firadza, editors (2014), “elegant”, in Gwara – Księżaków "język ojczysty" Dziedzictwo regionu łowickiego (in Polish), Łowicz: Muzeum w Łowiczu, →ISBN, page 28

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French élégant, from Latin elegans.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

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

1. tasteful

Declension

Declension of elegant

		singular				plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine		masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	elegant		elegantă		eleganți	elegante
	definite	elegantul		eleganta		eleganții	elegantele
genitive- dative	indefinite	elegant		elegante		eleganți	elegante
	definite	elegantului		elegantei		eleganților	elegantelor

Swedish

Etymology

From Latin elegans, via French élégant.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌɛlɛˈɡant/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

elegant (comparative elegantare, superlative elegantast)

1. elegant

Declension

Inflection of elegant

Indefinite	positive	comparative	superlative1
common singular	elegant	elegantare	elegantast
neuter singular	elegantt	elegantare	elegantast
plural	eleganta	elegantare	elegantast
masculine plural2	elegante	elegantare	elegantast
Definite	positive	comparative	superlative
masculine singular3	elegante	elegantare	elegantaste
all	eleganta	elegantare	elegantaste

¹ The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
² Dated or archaic.
³ Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.

See also

• elegans c (noun)

Noun

elegant c

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

Usage notes

Often a bit tongue-in-cheek.

Declension

Declension of elegant

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	elegant	elegants
	definite	eleganten	elegantens
plural	indefinite	eleganter	eleganters
	definite	eleganterna	eleganternas

References

• “elegant”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “elegant”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “elegant”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)

Anagrams

• legaten