What does elegance mean?
Elegance is the quality of being gracefully refined, tasteful, and stylishly simple. It describes people who carry themselves with poise, rooms and objects designed with restrained beauty, and manners marked by courtesy without fuss. Beyond the physical and social sphere, elegance also names an intellectual virtue: a solution, proof, or explanation is called elegant when it achieves its purpose with striking economy — no wasted steps, no unnecessary complexity. This dual sense links aesthetics to ingenuity, which is why scientists and designers prize it as highly as fashion critics do. The word connotes understatement rather than showiness; something ornate may be luxurious but rarely elegant. Derived from Latin roots meaning 'to pick out or choose carefully', elegance has carried its sense of discriminating taste into English since the seventeenth century, remaining a valued ideal in art, dress, thought, and conduct alike.
nounThe quality of being graceful, stylish, and refined in appearance or manner; also, the quality of being ingeniously simple and effective in design, argument, or solution.
- Graceful and stylish refinement in appearance, manner, or design
- Ingenious simplicity and effectiveness, especially of an idea, solution, or scientific theory
"She moved through the ballroom with effortless elegance."
"The room was furnished with quiet elegance — nothing ornate, everything exactly right."
"Mathematicians admired the elegance of her proof, which solved the problem in three lines."
Rare; the plural appears chiefly when referring to individual instances or varieties of refined behavior or style, often in literary contexts.
"The memoir records the small elegances of a vanished courtly age."
The same word mathematicians use for a proof so clean it can't be improved is the one fashion editors reach for on the red carpet — elegance covers both.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of elegance
Elegance derives from the Latin noun elegantia, formed from eligere, meaning 'to select or pick out', from e- ('out') plus legere ('to gather or choose'). It entered English via French in the early seventeenth century, initially carrying senses of tasteful choice and refined correctness. Cognates include the adjective elegant and, more distantly, words sharing the Latin root legere such as select and diligent.
Related word forms
How elegance is actually used
Elegance carries a strongly positive connotation of restraint rather than ostentation — true elegance implies understatement. It is somewhat formal in register but widely used in both aesthetic and intellectual contexts, including mathematics and science.
Easily confused with elegance
Eloquence refers to fluent, persuasive speech or writing, whereas elegance refers to graceful style and refined simplicity.