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In Death on the Rocks, a 2013 mystery novel by Deryn Lake, the hero John Rawlings is described as having “svelte eyebrows” (he raises them also in 1995’s Death at the Beggar’s Opera). Lake’s oeuvre notwithstanding, svelte is not an adjective commonly applied to eyebrows, though it’s perfectly appropriate to do so—one of the word’s meanings is “sleek,” and it is often used to describe such disparate things as gowns and sports cars having clean lines. But “svelte eyebrows” also makes etymological sense; svelte came to English (by way of French) from the Italian adjective svelto, which itself comes from the verb svellere, meaning “to pluck out.” Since its debut in English in the early 19th century, however, svelte has more often been used with its original meaning to describe a person’s body—not just the tufts of hair above their eyes—as slender, graceful, or lithe.
Synonyms
Examples of svelte in a Sentence
Simon Hill, WIRED, 22 Nov. 2024
From an accessibility standpoint, the moral of this story is simple: no matter how svelte the iPad mini’s form is, the display is its most important attribute for someone with low vision.
—Steven Aquino, Forbes, 22 Oct. 2024
Perhaps the least anticipated among them is this, the fifth generation of Apple’s svelte, low-cost Mac Mini.
—Christopher Null, WIRED, 9 Dec. 2020
Gomez is set to make a guest appearance in the television series, which stars Henrie, who wore a navy blazer and trousers, pairing squeaky white trainers with his svelte outfit.
—Violet Goldstone, WWD, 3 Sep. 2019
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Dictionary Entries Near svelte
Cite this Entry
“Svelte.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/svelte. Accessed 30 Dec. 2024.
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from French svelte "slender, sleek," from Italian svelto (same meaning), derived from svellere "to pluck out," derived from Latin evellere "to pluck"
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