as in zeal
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Recent Examples of élan
But these artists skillfully infuse every note with passion and gritty elan.
—
George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 Dec. 2025
Schwartzman, though, is comic gold as an inappropriate inlaw while Sessa brightens things up as a broken-hearted sop who insinuates himself with all the elan of a Lab puppy into the neighbor’s next door household.
—Randy Myers, Mercury News, 3 Dec. 2025
Khrushchev sought to revive revolutionary elan and push the USSR to the final stage of history, the transition from socialism to communism, during which the state apparatus would finally wither away.
—Benjamin Nathans
september 24, Literary Hub, 24 Sep. 2025
Carter and Air Mail crafted the idea for the prize, which will be awarded to one fiction writer and one nonfiction scribe whose work embodies Wolfe’s imaginative, precise and literary elan.
—Rosemary Feitelberg, Footwear News, 24 June 2025
The rule at these gatherings is to move with a semblance of elan.
—Baz Bamigboye, Deadline, 16 May 2025
Rice’s second was struck with such elan that even a gargantuan goalkeeper of Thibaut Courtois’ stature and reach could not get anywhere near.
—Amy Lawrence, New York Times, 9 Apr. 2025
Trending on Billboard What comes next is a clinic in classic Jackson, with the singer popping, locking and skittering across the club’s floor while executing some of his signature spins and fancy footwork while breaking hearts and deftly dispatching would-be assassins with his signature elan.
—Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 30 Oct. 2024
The Orioles have adeptly selected their times to be aggressive on the bases
After more than three hours of tense back and forth Wednesday night in the Bronx, the Orioles finished the Yankees not with their trademark power but with base running elan.
—Childs Walker, Baltimore Sun, 21 June 2024
George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 Dec. 2025
Schwartzman, though, is comic gold as an inappropriate inlaw while Sessa brightens things up as a broken-hearted sop who insinuates himself with all the elan of a Lab puppy into the neighbor’s next door household.
—Randy Myers, Mercury News, 3 Dec. 2025
Khrushchev sought to revive revolutionary elan and push the USSR to the final stage of history, the transition from socialism to communism, during which the state apparatus would finally wither away.
—Benjamin Nathans
september 24, Literary Hub, 24 Sep. 2025
Carter and Air Mail crafted the idea for the prize, which will be awarded to one fiction writer and one nonfiction scribe whose work embodies Wolfe’s imaginative, precise and literary elan.
—Rosemary Feitelberg, Footwear News, 24 June 2025
The rule at these gatherings is to move with a semblance of elan.
—Baz Bamigboye, Deadline, 16 May 2025
Rice’s second was struck with such elan that even a gargantuan goalkeeper of Thibaut Courtois’ stature and reach could not get anywhere near.
—Amy Lawrence, New York Times, 9 Apr. 2025
Trending on Billboard What comes next is a clinic in classic Jackson, with the singer popping, locking and skittering across the club’s floor while executing some of his signature spins and fancy footwork while breaking hearts and deftly dispatching would-be assassins with his signature elan.
—Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 30 Oct. 2024
The Orioles have adeptly selected their times to be aggressive on the bases
After more than three hours of tense back and forth Wednesday night in the Bronx, the Orioles finished the Yankees not with their trademark power but with base running elan.
—Childs Walker, Baltimore Sun, 21 June 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for élan
Noun
-
Her older brothers, 20-year-old twins, helped form her competitive zeal and desire to excel.—
Patrick Z. McGavin,
Chicago Tribune,
16 Apr. 2026
-
Yet his single-minded zeal is inseparable from his intolerance.—
Adam Gopnik,
New Yorker,
13 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
It is also observed with fervor in the national capital of New Delhi and other northern Indian states such as Himachal Pradesh and Haryana.—
Tamanna Nangia,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
10 Apr. 2026
-
For svn4vr, a devout Christian whose music grapples with the demands of faith, the impulsive workflow conveys a religious fervor.—
H.D. Angel,
Pitchfork,
9 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
But the lack of verve Bieber brought to one of music's biggest stages also drew some backlash online — especially amid reports that the artist was paid $10 million to host a YouTube viewing party.—
Rebecca Cohen,
NBC news,
13 Apr. 2026
-
But that special quality, that verve, that panache Curry so effortlessly provides to elevate the Warriors from hardworking losers to a playoff team nobody wants to play?—
Joseph Dycus,
Mercury News,
5 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
They are delivered with a confident brio, though the author is careful to enter caveats.—
Anthony Lane,
New Yorker,
13 Apr. 2026
-
His roots on the island of Ischia mean that Umbria’s meaty, carb-heavy traditions are tempered by southern lightness and brio.—
Lee Marshall,
Condé Nast Traveler,
14 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
The entertaining one-act comedy explores the underground world of competitive air guitar, which — for those unfamiliar with the art form, like me — involves re-creating with gusto the theatrical athletics of guitarists playing famous riffs, without the benefit of an instrument.—
Pam Kragen,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
13 Apr. 2026
-
Madrid had been knocking on the door with some gusto for a while, but Alexander-Arnold turned his right foot into a combination of a battering ram and a skeleton key to set up Kylian Mbappe for the goal that teed up the second leg perfectly.—
Nick Miller,
New York Times,
8 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
This isn’t a film about trauma, or smuggled-in social issues, or anything at all, really, besides the honest workaday business of scaring the bejesus out of its audience, rinsing, and repeating with extra vigor.—
Guy Lodge,
Variety,
16 Apr. 2026
-
The protagonist, Theodore, is a jaded man with no vigor for life.—
Oluwaseun Damilola Sanwoolu,
The Conversation,
14 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
After an early-morning session with the hens, a gobbler’s ardor may rise again at midday.—
Bruce Brady,
Outdoor Life,
8 Apr. 2026
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But my ardor for Jake Skeets’s brilliant first book begins with the violence and beauty corralled on its front cover.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
1 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
There’s a school of psychology behind why teams wear bolder colors on the color wheel — hues that scream vitality, energy, power and strength.—
Pete Grathoff,
Kansas City Star,
10 Apr. 2026
-
For me, maintaining brand vitality requires curiosity, humility and ongoing dialogue.—
Terri Liebler,
Rolling Stone,
9 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“élan.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/%C3%A9lan. Accessed 19 Apr. 2026.
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