Literary notes about elegant (AI summary)
In literature, “elegant” is a versatile adjective that evokes a sense of refined beauty, impeccable taste, and graceful simplicity in both characters and settings. It is used to highlight not only physical attributes—such as the sleek, well-formed lines of a horse’s legs or the delicate charm in a person’s attire ([1], [2])—but also to suggest a moral or intellectual finesse, as when a character’s behavior is described as unforced yet sophisticated ([3], [4]). Moreover, the word often conveys an atmosphere of cultivated luxury, whether in the depiction of an exquisitely designed watch or the understated opulence of an establishment ([5], [6]). In this way, “elegant” bridges the visible and the abstract, imbuing the narrative with an aura of quiet superiority and cultured refinement ([7], [8]).
- The Musketeer met with a superb Andalusian horse, black as jet, nostrils of fire, legs clean and elegant, rising six years.
— from The three musketeers by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet - She looked a graceful creature, and she felt very good and very elegant indeed.
— from Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe - He is elegant without affectation; and what is more remarkable, in the midst of gaiety he is moral.
— from The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, Complete by Suetonius - His person is at once elegant and manly, and his understanding highly cultivated.
— from The Expedition of Humphry Clinker by T. Smollett - “A quarter after five,” said her companion, consulting an elegant, open-faced watch.
— from Sister Carrie: A Novel by Theodore Dreiser - We found it a very large and elegant establishment, and were as well entertained as travellers need desire to be.
— from American Notes by Charles Dickens - It may be recommended as a handy and elegant guide to beginners in the study of the history of art.”— Saturday Review.
— from British Goblins: Welsh Folk-lore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions by Wirt Sikes - He sent a copy of it likewise to Posidonius of Rhodes, and requested of him to undertake the same subject in a more elegant and masterly manner.
— from The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, Complete by Suetonius
