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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.
Examples of svelte in a Sentence
Madeleine Marr, Miami Herald, 21 Aug. 2025
The segment honored her new svelte waistline, and the weeks she’s spent on the show without sustenance.
—Frederick Dreier, Outside, 18 Aug. 2025
Despite this relatively svelte build – in the world of rugged phones anyway – the WP210 comes with enough battery for 20 hours of video watching, 52 hours of continuous talk time or 26 hours of mobile gaming.
—New Atlas, 17 Aug. 2025
The only competition between the superstars right now, in fact, might be which one looks in greater shape when camp starts – and as svelte as Luka looks these days, and as rigorous as his offseason workouts seem to have been, that’s definitely a fairer fight than it’s ever been.
—Jim Alexander, Oc Register, 3 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for svelte
Cite this Entry
“Svelte.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/svelte. Accessed 24 Aug. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
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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