ELEGANCE • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • 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

... in which many women were kept by men of fortune under the old regime. At the present day, if we except twenty or thirty perhaps, it would be no easy matter to discover any women supported in a style of elegance in Paris, and the lot of these seems scarcely secured but from month to month. The reason of this mystery is, that the modern Croesuses having mostly acquired their riches in a clandestine manner, they take every possible precaution to prevent ...

— Paris As It Was and As It Is • Francis W. Blagdon

... inspire sympathy." And, regarding the method of beginning the relationship, she writes: "Sometimes 'flames' arise before the two future friends have even seen each other, merely because one of them is considered as beautiful, sympathetic, nice, or elegant. Elegance exerts an immense fascination, especially on the boarders, who are bound down by monotonous and simple habits. As soon as a boarder hears of a day-pupil that she is charming and elegant she begins to feel a lively sympathy toward her, rapidly ...

— Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 2 (of 6) • Havelock Ellis

... given in these roomy old houses with broad verandas, surrounded with lawn and garden. But this need not deter those having less delightful surroundings from offering their best to their friends. It is not so much the elegance of what we offer as the manner in which it is offered that makes our friends remember their visit ...

— Mother's Remedies - Over One Thousand Tried and Tested Remedies from Mothers - of the United States and Canada • T. J. Ritter

... into it backwards. It was always a difficult thing to put this warrior to confusion, and his sudden descent left him as composed as before. He had sat down just opposite to Nastasia, whose fingers he now took, and raised to his lips with great elegance, and much courtesy. The general had once belonged to a very select circle of society, but he had been turned out of it two or three years since on account of certain weaknesses, in which he now indulged with all the less restraint; but his good manners remained ...

— The Idiot • (AKA Feodor Dostoevsky) Fyodor Dostoyevsky

... stories, with a basement; the ground floor, occupied by the store, having five hundred feet of counter-room. Without, the architectural taste displayed was unexceptionably good, the building having an appearance of lightness and elegance, whilst at the same time conveying an idea of strength and solidity. The store is fitted up in the most sumptuous manner, and is of itself an attraction to visitors, to say nothing of the rich ...

— Cleveland Past and Present - Its Representative Men, etc. • Maurice Joblin

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