svelte
[ svelt, sfelt ]
/ svɛlt, sfɛlt /
adjective, svelt·er, svelt·est.
slender, especially gracefully slender in figure; lithe.
suave; blandly urbane.
Origin of svelte
1810–20; < French < Italian
svelto < Vulgar Latin
*exvellitus pulled out (replacing Latin
ēvulsus, past participle of
ēvellere), equivalent to Latin
ex-
ex-1 +
velli-, variant stem of
vellere to pull, pluck +
-tus past participle suffix
Words nearby svelte
svalbard,
svarabhakti,
svc.,
svedberg,
svedberg unit,
svelte,
svengali,
sverdlovsk,
sverdrup,
sverige,
svetambara
Example sentences from the Web for svelte
British Dictionary definitions for svelte
svelte
/ (svɛlt, sfɛlt) /
adjective
attractively or gracefully slim; slender
urbane or sophisticated
Word Origin for svelte
C19: from French, from Italian
svelto, from
svellere to pull out, from Latin
ēvellere, from
ex-
1 +
vellere to pull