refinement

1 an instance of notable progress in the development of knowledge, technology, or skill the recent refinements in this area of medical technology Synonyms advancement, breakthrough, enhancement, improvement, advanceRelated Words quantum leap; amelioration, boost, heightening, increase, melioration, strengthening, upgrade, uplift, upswing, uptrend, upturn; betterment, development, elaboration, evolution, expansion, gestation, growth, maturation, perfection, ripening; civilization, edification, education, enlightenment; renaissance, renascence, revival; discovery, find, windfall; innovation, inventionNear Antonyms breakdown, collapse, crash; hindrance, impediment, stumbling block; decadence, decay, declension, decline, decrease, degeneration, descent, deterioration, diminishment, downgrade, ebbing, failing, flagging, languishment, lapse, lessening, reduction, sinking, slowing, weakening, worsening; detriment, disablement, drawback, glitch, impairment, shortcomingAntonyms setback

2 a high level of taste and enlightenment as a result of extensive intellectual training and exposure to the arts had a sense of refinement that her small hometown couldn't satisfy, so she moved to New York City to be closer to great museums and concert halls Synonyms accomplishment, civilization, couth, cultivation, polish, cultureRelated Words education, erudition, intellectualism, intellectuality, knowledge, learning, literacy, scholarship; cosmopolitanism, sophistication, urbanity; breeding, genteelness, gentility, manners; class, elegance, grace, taste; civility, courteousness, courtesy, politenessNear Antonyms ignorance, illiteracy; parochialism, provincialism, rusticity, unsophistication; boorishness, churlishness, clownishness, coarseness, crudeness, vulgarityAntonyms barbarianism, barbarism, philistinism

3 dignified or restrained beauty of form, appearance, or style although she can afford all the jewelry that money can buy, she dresses with the gentle refinement that only taste can bestow Synonyms class, classiness, courtliness, elegancy, fineness, grace, gracefulness, handsomeness, majesty, elegance, statelinessRelated Words augustness, brilliance, gloriousness, glory, grandeur, grandness, lavishness, luxuriance, luxuriousness, luxury, magnificence, nobility, nobleness, opulence, ornateness, plushiness, plushness, resplendence, resplendency, richness, splendor, sumptuousness; artfulness, chic, polish, sophistication, taste, tastefulness; choiceness, classicism, dignity, exquisiteness, restraint, simplicity; affectedness, grandiosity, ostentation, ostentatiousness, pretentiousness, showinessNear Antonyms coarseness, crudeness, flamboyance, flashiness, garishness, gaudiness, glitz, grotesqueness, grotesquerie (also grotesquery), kitsch, tastelessness, tawdriness, vulgarityAntonyms gracelessness, inelegance