tastefully fine or luxurious in dress, style, design, etc.: elegant furnishings.
gracefully refined and dignified, as in tastes, habits, or literary style: an elegant young gentleman; an elegant prosodist.
graceful in form or movement: an elegant wave of the hand.
appropriate to refined taste: a man devoted to elegant pursuits.
excellent; fine; superior: an absolutely elegant wine.
(of scientific, technical, or mathematical theories, solutions, etc.) gracefully concise and simple; admirably succinct.
Origin of elegant
First recorded in 1400–50; Late Middle English (from Middle French ), from Latin ēlegant- (stem of ēlegāns ) “tasteful, choice,” equivalent to ēleg- (akin to ēlig- “select”) + -ant- a suffix forming adjectives from verbs; originally the present participle of ēlegāre (unattested); see origin at elect, -ant
For me, it doesn’t get much more elegant than being able to get a total-body workout with one tool.
The Gym-Free Pandemic Workout: Kettlebells, Indian Clubs, Sandbags, Oh My!|Eugene Robinson|August 25, 2020|Ozy
The new method skirts the traditional mathematical slog by directly computing “intersection numbers,” which some hope could eventually lead to a more elegant description of the subatomic world.
The Mathematical Structure of Particle Collisions Comes Into View|Charlie Wood|August 20, 2020|Quanta Magazine
He had been strolling, too, when he had lost track of his surroundings and strayed into a neighborhood of elegant columned houses.
The first murder|Katie McLean|August 19, 2020|MIT Technology Review
In recent decades it has taken on a more elegant guise, first with physical robots in production plants, and more recently with software automation entering most offices.
The Global Work Crisis: Automation, the Case Against Jobs, and What to Do About It|Peter Xing|August 6, 2020|Singularity Hub
It will be populated by elegant, minimalist 3D-printed smart homes called Minka houses, created by noted geriatrician Bill Thomas.
How Covid-19 will end “big box” senior living|Lila MacLellan|July 26, 2020|Quartz
I did a piece for Elle about the effort to remake her into an elegant presence fashion-wise.
Daphne Merkin on Lena Dunham, Book Criticism, and Self-Examination|Mindy Farabee|December 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Perhaps, like Hawking searching for his elegant equation, filmmakers will never find the answer.
Why Can’t Movies Capture Genius?|Clive Irving|December 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
They seem to have service for eight of these elegant blue-and-white plates.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days|David Freeman|December 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But many spirits experts have long lauded Japanese whiskies as formidable—even the most elegant—drams.
Watch Out, Scotland! Japanese Whisky Is on the Rise|Kayleigh Kulp|November 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
That means Japanese whiskies are beautifully balanced and elegant; they touch and develop on every sensor on the palate.
Watch Out, Scotland! Japanese Whisky Is on the Rise|Kayleigh Kulp|November 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
As the wealth of the leading planters increased they gradually surrounded themselves with elegant homes and sumptuous furnishings.
Patrician and Plebeian|Thomas J. Wertenbaker
He was short rather than tall, his hand was delicate, his foot slender and elegant.
The Companions of Jehu|Alexandre Dumas, pre
One glance at the woman showed her to be elegant in dress and of a refined appearance.
The Crime of the French Caf and Other Stories|Nicholas Carter
And Miss Winter opened a French exercise-book, certainly containing anything but elegant specimens of penmanship.
The Daisy Chain|Charlotte Yonge
It was an elegant little creature, with a skin like its mother, only more brilliant--it was full of graceful antics.
The Swiss Family Robinson; or Adventures in a Desert Island|Johann David Wyss
British Dictionary definitions for elegant
elegant
/ (ˈɛlɪɡənt) /
adjective
tasteful in dress, style, or design
dignified and graceful in appearance, behaviour, etc
cleverly simple; ingeniousan elegant solution to a problem
Derived forms of elegant
elegantly, adverb
Word Origin for elegant
C16: from Latin ēlegāns tasteful, related to ēligere to select; see elect