REFINED
| Pronunciation (US): |  |
Dictionary entry overview: What does refined mean?
• REFINED (adjective)
The adjective REFINED has 6 senses:
1. (used of persons and their behavior) cultivated and genteel
2. freed from impurities by processing
3. showing a high degree of refinement and the assurance that comes from wide social experience
4. made pure
5. suggesting taste, ease, and wealth
6. free from what is tawdry or unbecoming
Familiarity information: REFINED used as an adjective is common.
Dictionary entry details
• REFINED (adjective)
Meaning:
(used of persons and their behavior) cultivated and genteel
Context examples:
she was delicate and refined and unused to hardship / refined people with refined taste
Similar:
debonair; debonaire; debonnaire; suave (having a sophisticated charm)
delicate; finespun (developed with extreme delicacy and subtlety)
gentlemanlike; gentlemanly (befitting a man of good breeding)
ladylike (befitting a woman of good breeding)
overrefined; superfine (excessively delicate or refined)
well-bred; well-mannered (of good upbringing)
dainty; mincing; niminy-piminy; prim; twee (affectedly dainty or refined)
couth ((used facetiously) refined)
civilised; civilized; cultivated; cultured; genteel; polite (marked by refinement in taste and manners)
Also:
polished (perfected or made shiny and smooth)
gracious (characterized by charm, good taste, and generosity of spirit)
fastidious (giving careful attention to detail; hard to please; excessively concerned with cleanliness)
elegant (refined and tasteful in appearance or behavior or style)
civilised; civilized (having a high state of culture and development both social and technological)
Antonym:
unrefined ((used of persons and their behavior) not refined; uncouth)
Meaning:
Freed from impurities by processing
Synonyms:
processed; refined
Context examples:
refined sugar / refined oil / to gild refined gold
Antonym:
unrefined (not refined or processed)
Meaning:
Showing a high degree of refinement and the assurance that comes from wide social experience
Synonyms:
svelte; urbane; polished; refined
Context examples:
his polished manner / maintained an urbane tone in his letters
Similar:
sophisticated (having or appealing to those having worldly knowledge and refinement and savoir-faire)
Meaning:
Made pure
Synonyms:
sublimate; purified; refined
Similar:
pure (free of extraneous elements of any kind)
Meaning:
Suggesting taste, ease, and wealth
Synonyms:
elegant; graceful; refined
Similar:
gracious (characterized by charm, good taste, and generosity of spirit)
Meaning:
Free from what is tawdry or unbecoming
Synonyms:
tasteful; neat; refined
Context examples:
a neat style / a neat set of rules / she hated to have her neat plans upset
Similar:
elegant (refined and tasteful in appearance or behavior or style)
