'Refinement' definitions:
Definition of 'refinement'
(from WordNet)
noun
A highly developed state of perfection; having a flawless or impeccable quality; "they performed with great polish"; "I admired the exquisite refinement of his prose"; "almost an inspiration which gives to all work that finish which is almost art"--Joseph Conrad [syn: polish, refinement, culture, cultivation, finish]
noun
The result of improving something; "he described a refinement of this technique" [syn: refinement, elaboration]
noun
The process of removing impurities (as from oil or metals or sugar etc.) [syn: refining, refinement, purification]
noun
A subtle difference in meaning or opinion or attitude; "without understanding the finer nuances you can't enjoy the humor"; "don't argue about shades of meaning" [syn: nuance, nicety, shade, subtlety, refinement]
noun
The quality of excellence in thought and manners and taste; "a man of intellectual refinement"; "he is remembered for his generosity and civilization" [syn: refinement, civilization, civilisation]
Definition of 'Refinement'
From: GCIDE
- Refinement \Re*fine"ment\ (r?*f?n"ment), n. [Cf. F. raffinement.]
- 1. The act of refining, or the state of being refined; as, the refinement or metals; refinement of ideas. [1913 Webster]
- The more bodies are of kin to spirit in subtilty and refinement, the more diffusive are they. --Norris. [1913 Webster]
- From the civil war to this time, I doubt whether the corruptions in our language have not equaled its refinements. --Swift. [1913 Webster]
- 2. That which is refined, elaborated, or polished to excess; an affected subtilty; as, refinements of logic. "The refinements of irregular cunning." --Rogers. [1913 Webster]
- Syn: Purification; polish; politeness; gentility; elegance; cultivation; civilization. [1913 Webster]
Synonyms of 'refinement'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- ablation,
- abrasion,
- absoluteness,
- abstraction,
- acculturation,
- accuracy,
- acquired taste,
- appreciation,
- appreciation of differences,
- appreciation of excellence,
- appreciativeness,
- appropriateness,
- artistic judgment,
- attention to detail,
- attention to fact,
- Atticism,
- beautification,
- bettering,
- betterment,
- bolting,
- breeding,
- care for truth,
- chasteness,
- chastity,
- choiceness,
- circumstantiality,
- civility,
- civilization,
- civilized taste,
- civilizedness,
- clarification,
- clarifying,
- clarity,
- classicalism,
- classicism,
- cleaning,
- cleansing,
- clearness,
- colature,
- comeliness,
- concentrate,
- concentration,
- connoisseurship,
- conscientiousness,
- correctness,
- courtesy,
- courtliness,
- critical niceness,
- criticality,
- criticalness,
- cultivated taste,
- cultivation,
- culture,
- daintiness,
- decoction,
- deduction,
- delicacy,
- delicate distinction,
- delicateness,
- destructive distillation,
- detail,
- development,
- differentia,
- differential,
- dignity,
- diplomacy,
- directness,
- discernment,
- discriminating taste,
- discriminatingness,
- discrimination,
- discriminativeness,
- disentanglement,
- disinvolvement,
- distillate,
- distillation,
- distinction,
- down,
- downiness,
- ease,
- education,
- edulcoration,
- elaboration,
- elegance,
- elegancy,
- elixir,
- elution,
- elutriation,
- embellishment,
- enculturation,
- enhancement,
- enlightenment,
- erosion,
- essence,
- essentialization,
- evolution,
- exactingness,
- exactitude,
- exactness,
- excellence,
- exquisiteness,
- extract,
- extraction,
- faithfulness,
- fastidiousness,
- faultlessness,
- feel,
- feeling,
- felicitousness,
- felicity,
- fidelity,
- filminess,
- filtering,
- filtration,
- fine palate,
- fine point,
- fine-grainedness,
- fineness,
- finesse,
- finicality,
- finicalness,
- finickiness,
- finickingness,
- finish,
- fittingness,
- flawlessness,
- flow,
- flowing periods,
- fluency,
- fluff,
- fluffiness,
- fussiness,
- fuzz,
- fuzziness,
- genteelness,
- gentility,
- gentlemanlikeness,
- gentlemanliness,
- gentleness,
- good breeding,
- good taste,
- gossameriness,
- grace,
- gracefulness,
- gracility,
- graciosity,
- graciousness,
- hairline,
- improvement,
- infusion,
- judiciousness,
- ladylikeness,
- leaching,
- limpidity,
- literalism,
- literality,
- literalness,
- lixiviation,
- lucidity,
- making distinctions,
- margin,
- mathematical precision,
- maturation,
- meticulousness,
- minuteness,
- minutia,
- narrow margin,
- narrowing,
- naturalness,
- neatness,
- nice distinction,
- niceness,
- niceness of distinction,
- nicety,
- nuance,
- palate,
- particle of difference,
- particularity,
- particularness,
- peach fuzz,
- pellucidity,
- percolation,
- perfection,
- perspicuity,
- plainness,
- point of difference,
- polish,
- politeness,
- politesse,
- preciseness,
- precisianism,
- precision,
- propriety,
- pubescence,
- punctiliousness,
- punctuality,
- purification,
- purifying,
- purity,
- quality,
- quintessence,
- refined discrimination,
- refined palate,
- refining,
- removal,
- restraint,
- riddling,
- right,
- rightness,
- rigidity,
- rigidness,
- rigor,
- rigorousness,
- ripening,
- satin,
- satininess,
- screening,
- scrupulosity,
- scrupulousness,
- seasoning,
- seemliness,
- selectiveness,
- sense,
- sensibility,
- sensitivity,
- separation,
- severity,
- shade of difference,
- sieving,
- sifting,
- silk,
- silkiness,
- simplicity,
- simplification,
- smoothness,
- socialization,
- softness,
- sophistication,
- spirit,
- spiritualization,
- straightforwardness,
- straining,
- streamlining,
- strictness,
- stripping,
- stripping down,
- suaveness,
- suavity,
- subduction,
- sublation,
- sublimation,
- subtle distinction,
- subtlety,
- subtraction,
- tact,
- tactfulness,
- taste,
- tastefulness,
- terseness,
- textualism,
- the letter,
- unaffectedness,
- uncluttering,
- unscrambling,
- unsnarling,
- urbanity,
- velvet,
- velvetiness,
- wide margin,
- winnowing