graceful

UK/ˈɡɹeɪsfʊl/US/ˈɡɹeɪsfʊl/

adjectiveB1+Common in everyday speech and writing · #5,527 of 15,258neutral

Graceful means moving with smooth, effortless beauty. A graceful dancer, a graceful curve, graceful in defeat.

The effortlessness is the point, and it is always an illusion — graceful movement is the product of enormous practice. Graceful in defeat is about behaviour rather than motion. Note gracious, which is about kindness, and graceless, the opposite.

Definitions of graceful

1adjectivegracefulMoving with smooth, effortless beauty.B1+
“The swan glided across the lake with slow, graceful movements.”

graceful is a quality of movement.

Also accepted in games: elegant

Where it comes from

Grace plus -ful, from Latin gratia, favour or charm, from gratus, pleasing.

Middle English
graceful
English, today
graceful

From Middle English graceful. by surface analysis, en + grace + ful.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Sharper Adjectives

Practise this word

graceful in the wild

According to Hesiod: And brought forth long hills, graceful hauntsof the goddess Nymphs who dwell amongst the glens of the hills.
Ourea
Stepdance judges prefer sliding motions with the feet and graceful movements that seem to slip across the floor.
Slip jig
The graceful prinia (Prinia gracilis) is a small warbler (in some older works it is referred to as graceful warbler).
Graceful prinia
The graceful catshark (Proscyllium habereri) is a species of finback catshark, belonging to the family Proscylliidae.
Graceful catshark
The name "graceful labeling" is due to Solomon W.
Graceful labeling

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

gracefulness

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