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
-
That’s unequivocally bad news for the left, but the unintended consequence of the right’s zeal to rig the maps could send Black voters back to the Dems in numbers a single candidate not named Obama could not.—
S.E. Cupp,
New York Daily News,
13 May 2026
-
But in the zeal to meet the moment, regulatory authorities shouldn’t overlook the complexities of these treatments — and the very real risk of getting it wrong.—
Lisa Jarvis,
Twin Cities,
13 May 2026
Noun
-
Yet the fervor, whether consequential or minor, in some ways has little to do with the actual physical experience of being in Venice, scouring the city for art.—
Sebastian Smee,
The Atlantic,
16 May 2026
-
Mexico has embraced her with a fervor the Spanish never intended.—
Franklin Leonard,
Vanity Fair,
14 May 2026
Noun
-
Curry lends plenty of music-hall verve as the butler, and Warren makes a sizzling Miss Scarlet.—
Kirk Ellis,
HollywoodReporter,
12 May 2026
-
His passion—and the source of his intellectual verve—is working on archaeological digs.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
12 May 2026
Noun
-
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
-
They are delivered with a confident brio, though the author is careful to enter caveats.—
Anthony Lane,
New Yorker,
13 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
So either expand the wheel to include streamers alongside the broadcast networks, renew the plan already in place — or go with gusto for my roadblock idea.—
Michael Schneider,
Variety,
7 May 2026
-
In New York, green space is often separated from you by fast-moving bike lanes—and crossing them requires timing, confidence, and a little gusto.—
Lauren Dana Ellman,
Travel + Leisure,
2 May 2026
Noun
-
Nina, Karen and Caroline started appearing in my daydreams, full of vigor and life lessons.—
Jennifer Acker,
PEOPLE,
8 May 2026
-
Although not invasive, irises do need to be divided every few years to maintain vigor.—
Jamie McIntosh,
The Spruce,
5 May 2026
Noun
-
Like the nun Beate before her, Susanna seems destined, as punishment for her overwhelming ardor, to be walled into the convent.—
Caroline Lillian Schopp,
Artforum,
13 May 2026
-
After an early-morning session with the hens, a gobbler’s ardor may rise again at midday.—
Bruce Brady,
Outdoor Life,
8 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Stockholm is buzzing with vitality and optimism for the future.—
Zac Ntim,
Deadline,
14 May 2026
-
That said, the actors kept me engaged, and the visuals are intoxicating thanks to gifted DP Jomo Fray, who brought such vitality and bruising intimacy to Nickel Boys.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
13 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“élan.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/%C3%A9lan. Accessed 19 May. 2026.
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