# elegant
## English
### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈɛl.ə.ɡənt/
* Audio (Southern England):(file)

### Adjective

elegant (comparative more elegant, superlative most elegant)
* Characterised by or exhibiting elegance.
** 2015 October 27, Matt Preston, The Simple Secrets to Cooking Everything Better‎, 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.
* Characterised by minimalism and intuitiveness while preserving exactness and precision.
    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."
* (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.'

#### Synonyms

* (exhibiting elegance): classy, graceful

#### Antonyms

* clumsy
* haphazard
* inelegant

#### 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
### Noun

elegant (plural elegants)
* 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

* Rhymes: -ant

### Adjective

elegant m or f (masculine and feminine plural elegants)
* elegant
    Antonym: inelegant

#### Derived terms

* elegantment

#### Related terms

* elegància
* inelegant

### Further reading

* “elegant” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
* “elegant”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
* “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: /eləɡant/, [eləˈɡ̊anˀd̥]

### Adjective

elegant
* elegant, smart
* elegant, neat
* (adverbial) elegantly, smartly, neatly

#### Inflection

$^1$ 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: /ˌeːləˈɣɑnt/
* Audio:(file)
* Hyphenation: ele‧gant
* Rhymes: -ɑnt

### Adjective

elegant (comparative eleganter, superlative elegantst)
* elegant

#### Synonyms

* sierlijk
* gracieus

#### Antonyms

* lomp
* plomp

#### Derived terms

* elegantie

### Anagrams

* gelaten

## German
### Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French elegant.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /eleˈɡant/, /eləˈɡant/
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -ant

### Adjective

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

#### Related terms

* Elegant
* Eleganz

### Further reading

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

## Latin
### Verb

ēlēgant
* third-person plural present active indicative of ēlēgō

## Middle French
### Adjective

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

## Norwegian Bokmål
### Etymology

From Latin elegans, via French élégant.

### Adjective

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

#### Related terms

* eleganse

### References

* “elegant” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

## Polish
### Alternative forms

* alegant (Kuyavia)

### Etymology

Borrowed from French élégant, from Latin ēlegāns.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ɛˈlɛ.ɡant/
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -ɛɡant
* Syllabification: e‧le‧gant

### Noun

elegant m pers (female equivalent elegantka, diminutive elegancik)
* elegant man

#### Declension
### Further reading

* elegant in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
* elegant in Polish dictionaries at PWN

## Romanian
### Etymology

Borrowed from French élégant, from Latin elegans.

### Pronunciation

* Audio:(file)

### Adjective

elegant m or n (feminine singular elegantă, masculine plural eleganți, feminine and neuter plural elegante)
* tasteful

#### Declension
## Swedish
### Etymology

From Latin elegans, via French élégant.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˌɛlɛˈɡant/
* Audio:(file)

### Adjective

elegant (comparative elegantare, superlative elegantast)
* elegant

#### Declension

$^1$ 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
* an elegance (person who is (doing something) elegant)

#### Usage notes

Often a bit tongue-in-cheek.

#### Declension
### References

* elegant in Svensk ordbok (SO)
* elegant in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
* elegant in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

### Anagrams

* legaten