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 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 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 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
  • Supporters of Cooper, who delivers her monologues with upbeat zeal, view her as a thoughtful voice challenging progressive ideology.
    — Avery Stone, Time, 14 July 2026
  • For more than 90 years, Beatrice Lumpkin brought a zeal for fairness and a fierce desire to protect working-class employees to her civil rights and workers’ rights activism.
    — Bob Goldsborough, Chicago Tribune, 9 July 2026
Definition of zeal
Noun
  • Every four years, slums in Kolkata and in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, get painted over in the respective colors of Argentina and Brazil, soccer powerhouses that have been embraced with astonishing fervor across the Global South.
    — Ishaan Tharoor, New Yorker, 16 July 2026
  • Lee has been comically streaky throughout his career, which has tempered that fan fervor just a bit.
    — Grant Brisbee, New York Times, 15 July 2026
Definition of fervor
Noun
  • That bite and raw intensity produce some of the album’s standout moments, transmuting jungle’s physicality across a wide emotional range with poetic verve and Nia’s woody, vulnerable, yet strident timbre.
    — Will Pritchard, Pitchfork, 20 July 2026
  • Carrick’s side lacked their usual verve in their captain’s absence on Saturday, but the £35million ($47m) deal to bring Youri Tielemans to Old Trafford brings new creative options for a team with further room to develop.
    — Carl Anka, New York Times, 19 July 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
  • Feynman was a graduate student there at the time and threw himself into the debate with gusto, even devising an experiment in the cyclotron laboratory to test his hypothesis.
    — Jennifer Ouellette, ArsTechnica, 13 July 2026
  • Guy sang with typical verve and gusto.
    — George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 June 2026
Definition of gusto
Noun
  • His ideas were too radical even for many of our Founding Fathers, but the vigor of his writing and the clarity of his thinking were as a spark to gunpowder, and that was coming, too.
    — Steven Johnson, Washington Post, 14 July 2026
  • Dividing clumps every few years in early spring also maintains their vigor.
    — SJ McShane, Martha Stewart, 11 July 2026
Definition of vigor
Noun
  • Or Ada, the focus of Desacroux’s ardor and obsession after a rapturous night five years prior?
    — Diana Arterian, Literary Hub, 16 July 2026
  • Indeed, the Knick who’s really sparked my ardor lately is shooting guard Josh Hart—in no small part because of the sweetness of his bond with his wife, registered nurse Shannon Hart.
    — Emma Specter, Vogue, 10 June 2026
Definition of ardor
Noun
  • The notion of testosterone as an all-purpose elixir for strength and vitality is not supported by the science.
    — Matthew Perrone, Fortune, 16 July 2026
  • Perhaps her death has haunted her legacy so tenaciously not just because of its sordid details, but because her art is so imbued with a swirl of both impermanence and vitality.
    — Eliza Goodpasture, ARTnews.com, 15 July 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 23 Jul. 2026.

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