graceful

Everyday

1. Moving in a smooth, light and beautiful way. tree →
2. Having a beautiful, elegant shape. tree →
3. Polite and kind, especially when things are difficult, as in «a graceful loser». tree →

In the lessons

Used for dancers, swans, cats, horses and buildings. In PE and dance it describes smooth movement. Sense 3 is about good manners: a «graceful» winner or loser is kind and fair. In stories swans and grebes glide gracefully on the river.

Examples

• The ballet dancer was very graceful. tree →
• Swans are graceful birds on the water. tree →
• The cat made a graceful leap onto the wall. tree →
• She was graceful in defeat and shook hands with the winner. tree →
• The bridge has graceful curves. tree →
• The Water Rat rowed with graceful, easy strokes. tree →
• Deer are graceful runners. tree →
• It is the most graceful performance I have ever seen. tree →

Note

Adjective; adverb gracefully, noun grace. Opposite: clumsy, awkward. Spelling: grace + ful (one l). Do not confuse with «gracious», which means kind and polite (more about manners than movement).

In Jewish tradition

Used for a beautiful, lovely wife, a "graceful doe."

Interpretation. Tradition reads this as advice to be faithful to one's wife, and also as an image of the Torah being loved always.

Examples

• A lovely hind and a graceful doe, let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; with her love be thou ravished always. (Writings PRO.5.19, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

Adjective; adverb gracefully, noun grace. Opposite: clumsy, awkward. Spelling: grace + ful (one l). Do not confuse with «gracious», which means kind and polite (more about manners than movement).