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élan

noun

Definition of élannext
as in zeal

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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 The rule at these gatherings is to move with a semblance of elan. — Baz Bamigboye, Deadline, 16 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for élan
Recent Examples of Synonyms for élan
  1. zeal
  2. fervor
  3. verve
  4. brio
  5. gusto
  6. vigor
  7. ardor
  8. vitality
Noun
  • The source of Stevie’s anger lay in the drug’s having sapped her ability to live and work with the zeal and ambition that had defined her life and career up until then.
    — Daniel Kreps, Rolling Stone, 14 Sep. 2026
  • The Leipzig scenes are both ephemeral and integral; later, Taro will speculate that if the Germans had had the same revolutionary zeal as the Spanish, Hitler might have been defeated.
    — Damon Wise, Deadline, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of zeal
Noun
  • The H-bomb was popular with the American public at moments of peak anti-Soviet fervor, just as 70 percent of South Koreans, facing a nuclear regime to the north, want the bomb today.
    — Scott W. Stern, The Atlantic, 17 Sep. 2026
  • Sachs’ faux boutique coincides with the $20 billion Chanel’s accelerating growth and shoppers’ fervor for fashion artistic director Matthieu Blazy’s designs.
    — Rosemary Feitelberg, Footwear News, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of fervor
Noun
  • These retain a striking amount of verve and complexity, and taste fresh enough to use raw.
    — Helen Rosner, New Yorker, 6 Sep. 2026
  • The actors, as is always the case in a Mike Leigh film, inhabit their roles with uncanny everyday verve.
    — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 5 Sep. 2026
Definition of verve
Noun
  • And surrounding all the onstage brio is, at long last, an equally vibrant space.
    — Sara Holdren, Vulture, 14 June 2026
  • In recent years, his expansive designing brio has expanded to cars with BMW, boats with Cigarette Racing and a private Kith padel club in Manhattan’s West Village that includes an Erewhon tonic bar.
    — Gary Baum, HollywoodReporter, 11 May 2026
Definition of brio
Noun
  • But for real this time, with gusto, the status quo might be in trouble!
    — Megan Feringa, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2026
  • Many have already mined Ford’s design vernacular, few with the original gusto.
    — José Criales-Unzueta, Vanity Fair, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of gusto
Noun
  • Garden mum expert QiuXia Chen explains that the differences between potted mums and garden mums relate to their flower size, branching, flowering times, plant habit, and vigor.
    — Gemma Johnstone, The Spruce, 8 Sep. 2026
  • Appropriate pruning and sanitation practices, routine fertilization in accordance with the plant’s needs, and protection from environmental stressors (drought, heat, or cold) are all vital to maintaining vigor.
    — Emily Leahy, Hartford Courant, 7 Sep. 2026
Definition of vigor
Noun
  • There’s Tom Crutchfield, who loves women with the ardor of Pepé Le Pew but spends most of his time not in pursuit of the ladies but of exotic snakes, lizards, alligators, turtles and whatnot.
    — Matthew Carey, Deadline, 8 Aug. 2026
  • Or Ada, the focus of Desacroux’s ardor and obsession after a rapturous night five years prior?
    — Diana Arterian, Literary Hub, 16 July 2026
Definition of ardor
Noun
  • And social media is inundated with questions about the 80-year-old president's health and vitality, spurred by pictures of his bruised hands or video clips of him appearing to fall asleep in meetings.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 9 Sep. 2026
  • And social media is inundated with questions about the 80-year-old president’s health and vitality, spurred by pictures of his bruised hands or video clips of him appearing to fall asleep in meetings.
    — Josh Boak, Los Angeles Times, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of vitality

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élan
élan vital
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Cite this Entry

“élan.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/%C3%A9lan. Accessed 19 Sep. 2026.

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