Search results
- DictionaryRe·fined/rəˈfīnd/
adjective
- 1. with impurities or unwanted elements having been removed by processing: "refined sugar"
adjective. having or showing well-bred feeling, taste, etc.: refined people. Synonyms: elegant, genteel, courtly, civilized, courteous, polite, polished, cultivated. Antonyms: crude, coarse, rude. freed or free from coarseness, vulgarity, etc.: refined taste.
to improve something or to make it pure, especially by removing material that is not wanted: Crude oil is industrially refined to purify it. to improve an idea, a method, a system, etc. by making small changes: Engineers spent many months refining the software.
to make something pure or improve something, especially by removing unwanted material: Crude oil is industrially refined to purify it and separate out the different elements, such as benzene. C2. to improve an idea, method, system, etc. by making small changes: Engineers spent many months refining the software.
Definition of refine verb in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more.
to bring to a fine or a pure state; free from impurities: to refine metal, sugar, or petroleum. to purify from what is coarse, vulgar, or debasing; make elegant or cultured. to bring to a finer state or form by purifying. to make more fine, subtle, or precise: to refine one's writing style.
When a person's refined, they have good manners and good taste. A stereotypically refined lady will drink tea every day at four in the afternoon, lift her pinky while drinking, and select only refined (pure white, not raw) sugar as a sweetener.
(of a person) polite, well educated and able to judge the quality of things; having the sort of manners that are considered typical of a high social class synonym cultured, genteel. Beneath his refined manners and superficial elegance the man was a snake. opposite unrefined.
