Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Characterized by beauty of movement, style, form, or execution: Describing something or someone that moves or is shaped in a smooth, elegant, and aesthetically pleasing way.
   • Suggesting taste, ease, and wealth: Describing an appearance or manner that is refined, poised, and suggests sophistication.

Examples of Usage

• Describing Movement:

  • The dancer's movements were incredibly graceful.
  • A graceful swan glided across the lake.

• Describing Style or Form:

  • She wrote a graceful letter of apology.
  • The architect designed a building with graceful curves.

• Describing Manner or Appearance:

  • He accepted the criticism with graceful humility.
  • The old mansion had a graceful, timeless elegance.

Advanced Usage

• "Graceful degradation" (Technical): A system design principle where functionality reduces smoothly when parts fail, rather than stopping completely.

  • The website was built with graceful degradation for older browsers.

• "Graceful exit": To leave a situation in a dignified and tactful manner.

  • After the scandal, the CEO made a graceful exit from the company.

Variants and Related Words

• Gracefully (adverb): In a graceful manner.

  • She bowed gracefully to the audience.

• Gracefulness (noun): The quality of being graceful.

  • The gracefulness of her performance was captivating.

• Graceless (adjective): Lacking grace; clumsy or awkward.

  • His graceless attempt at diplomacy offended everyone.

Synonyms

• Elegant: Pleasingly graceful and stylish in appearance or manner.
• Fluid: Smooth and continuous in movement.
• Lithesome: (Especially of a person's body) thin, supple, and graceful.
• Poised: Having a composed and self-assured manner.

Antonyms

• Awkward: Lacking grace or skill in movement or behavior.
• Clumsy: Awkward in movement or handling things.
• Graceless: Lacking grace, elegance, or charm.
• Ungainly: Awkward; clumsy.

Related Idioms and Phrases

• With good (or bad) grace: In a willing and cheerful (or unwilling and resentful) manner.

  • He accepted the defeat with good grace.

• A saving grace: A redeeming quality that compensates for other faults.

  • The hotel was basic, but its friendly staff was its saving grace.

Adjective

1. suggesting taste, ease, and wealth
2. characterized by beauty of movement, style, form, or execution