svelte

adjective

ˈsvelt How to pronounce svelte (audio)
ˈsfelt
svelter; sveltest
1
a
b
: having clean lines : sleek
2
sveltely adverb
svelteness noun

Did you know?

Svelte came to us, by way of French, from Italian svelto, which itself comes from the Italian verb svellere, meaning "to pluck out" or "to pull or stretch out." In English svelte has been used since the early 19th century to describe a slender appearance, as in A.B. Granville's 1838 description of a countess who was "tall, svelte, pale, and interesting." By the 20th century, English speakers had stretched the word's meaning to suggest an urbane or suave nature—as poet Ezra Pound did when he described "svelte Verona," a city he visited in north Italy.

Common Misspelling(s)

svelt

Examples of svelte in a Sentence

She has a svelte figure. the svelte dancer seemed to float across the stage
Recent Examples on the Web The Reds made up 21 games in the standings last summer, relying on svelte young talent in Elly De La Cruz, Matt McLain, Spencer Steer, and DH Christian Encarnacion-Strand, whose name barely fits onto the back of his uniform. Dan Schlossberg, Forbes, 19 Feb. 2024 And svelte cars like a Ferrari 250 GTO or Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing certainly shouldn’t be an issue. Michael Van Runkle, Robb Report, 26 Jan. 2024 The rapper said all that hard work has taken him from 253 pounds to his current svelte 210. Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 25 Jan. 2024 According to Chrome's network tracker, today, full-fat Gmail loads about 14.4MB (a lot of this gets cached for future visits), while the basic HTML version is an impossibly svelte 143KB. Ron Amadeo, Ars Technica, 26 Sep. 2023 Sleek in stature with its svelte pink body and rotating red light-emitting head, the wand is equal parts stunning and functional. Alyssa Brascia, Peoplemag, 9 Jan. 2024 The 54-foot Vespro was a new launch at the Cannes Yachting Festival, a sleek-looking vessel with a long profile, vertical bow, svelte hardtop and open stern. Kevin Koenig, Robb Report, 15 Nov. 2023 The Lyriq's svelte profile is draped over a long 121.8-inch wheelbase, which opens up lots of second-row legroom in the airy cabin. Michael Simari, Car and Driver, 25 May 2023 That might seem primitive, but there's a lot of impressive technology here—not least the way that Apple has fitted satellite connectivity into something as svelte as the iPhone 15. WIRED, 15 Jan. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'svelte.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

French, from Italian svelto, from past participle of svellere to pluck out, modification of Latin evellere, from e- + vellere to pluck — more at vulnerable

First Known Use

circa 1817, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of svelte was circa 1817

Podcast

Dictionary Entries Near svelte

Cite this Entry

“Svelte.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/svelte. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

svelte

adjective
: slender and graceful in form
sveltely adverb
svelteness noun
Etymology

from French svelte "slender, sleek," from Italian svelto (same meaning), derived from svellere "to pluck out," derived from Latin evellere "to pluck"

More from Merriam-Webster on svelte

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