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svelte

[svelt, sfelt]

adjective, svelt·er, svelt·est.

slender, especially gracefully slender in figure; lithe.

suave; blandly urbane.

Origin:
1810–20; < French < Italian svelto < Vulgar Latin *exvellitus pulled out (replacing Latin ēvulsus, past participle of ēvellere), equivalent to Latin ex- ex- + velli-, variant stem of vellere to pull, pluck + -tus past participle suffix

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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To svelte

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Svelte is always a great word to know.

So is slumgullion. Does it mean:

a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.

a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc.

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Example Sentences

Fully-loaded garment racks are not particularly svelte.

The usual contrast drawn is with wine, equated in the popular mind with svelte continental sophisticates.

One of the benefits of being in the water with humpback whales is that it makes me appear svelte by comparison.

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Fully-loaded garment racks are not particularly svelte.

The usual contrast drawn is with wine, equated in the popular mind with svelte continental sophisticates.

One of the benefits of being in the water with humpback whales is that it makes me appear svelte by comparison.

Though the females are stout and redoubtable, the males are svelte and ephemeral.

Rotary shavers advance again with the arcitec, a svelte and lightweight tool that's as good as rotaries get.

Palm hand-helds have evolved from modest boxy organizers to svelte pocket computers.

Clever and svelte new daypacks that display the distinction between nifty feature and needless frill.

Sandy, my girlfriend, adored gay men and she was svelte and gorgeous.

NeuroSky makes a svelte headset purported to measure brainwaves, transmuting neural activity into input for video games and toys.

Libous won many a friend but lost his svelte figure.

Travel light-and right-with these compact tools, from a pocket translator to a svelte headlamp.

However, this svelte design doesn't come without a price.

The phone isn't a brick-sized ruggedized monster, but it's not exactly svelte either.

It's not as svelte as the iPod but it seems a lot more rugged and scratch-resistant.

Heavy people expend more energy when they fidget than do svelte people, because moving all that fat burns up a lot of calories.

As noted before, there's a difference between trying to build muscles and trying to tone your muscles to look more svelte.

I'd rather have a plump but gracious hostess than a svelte and condescending.

So be sure to swing by while you can see these four svelte felines while they're on display.

And it's not quite skinny or svelte enough to qualify as a thin and light.

Many more than match the iPad's specification-though none feels quite as slim and svelte to the touch or as pleasing to the.

Gardenhire-Crooks' growing grins as she wore increasingly svelte workout clothes.

The svelte device has a built-in motion detector that senses my approach, lighting my way.

No longer does a man, come winter, have to hide his svelte figure beneath dowdy layers of down and wool.

The svelte and buffed cricketer of today is almost literally half the man his predecessor was.

The secrets of his success do not show on his svelte résumé.

The only wardrobe malfunctions involve formerly svelte athletes who could use a tailor to take out their uniform pants.

The stars are svelte and charming, in a hopelessly retrograde.

The stars are svelte and charming, in a hopelessly retrograde way.

It may still be the moment to turn a svelte tanned back on the miniskirt.

Svelte young women in miniskirts, with cellphones, strut down.

The shapes are generally close to the body, lengths skim the knees and the effect is svelte and sophisticated.

And for those who detest counting calories, there may be a shortcut to a svelte figure.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

svelte (svɛlt, sfɛlt)

—*adj*
1.	attractively or gracefully slim; slender
2.	urbane or sophisticated

[C19: from French, from Italian svelto, from svellere to pull out, from Latin ēvellere, from ex-¹ + vellere to pull]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

svelte

"slender, lithe," c.1817, from Fr. svelte "slim, slender," from It. svelto "slim, slender," originally "pulled out, lengthened," from pp. of svellere "to pluck or root out," from V.L. *exvellere, from L. ex- "out" + vellere "to pluck, stretch."

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