Wiktionary

graceful

English edit

Alternative forms edit

Etymology edit

From Middle English graceful; equivalent to grace +‎ -ful.

Pronunciation edit

  • (UK, US) IPA(key): /ˈɡɹeɪsfʊl/
  • Audio (US):(file)

Adjective edit

graceful (comparative more graceful, superlative most graceful)

  1. Having or showing grace in movement, shape, or proportion.
    She is a graceful dancer.
    • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 1, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
      The half-dozen pieces […] were painted white and carved with festoons of flowers, birds and cupids. […]   The bed was the most extravagant piece.  Its graceful cane halftester rose high towards the cornice and was so festooned in carved white wood that the effect was positively insecure, as if the great couch were trimmed with icing sugar.
  2. Magnanimous, lacking arrogance or complaint; gracious.
    The athlete's graceful acceptance of the controversial second-place finish won the admiration of the spectators.
  3. (computing) Gradual and non-disruptive.
    • 2009, Dale Liu, Cisco Router and Switch Forensics:
      Bringing a system down cleanly will preserve the operating system and some log files, but again will destroy the contents of the RAM (the volatile data). Windows and Linux are two operating systems that require a graceful shutdown.

Antonyms edit

Derived terms edit

Related terms edit

Translations edit

See also edit

Middle English edit

Etymology edit

From grace +‎ -ful.

Pronunciation edit

Adjective edit

graceful

  1. (rare, Late Middle English) Giving grace; grace-inducing.
  2. (rare, Late Middle English) nice, kindly

Descendants edit

  • English: graceful
  • Scots: gracefu

References edit

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