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In Death on the Rocks, a 2013 mystery novel by Deryn Lake, the hero John Rawlings is described as having “svelte eyebrows” (he raises them also in 1995’s Death at the Beggar’s Opera). Lake’s oeuvre notwithstanding, svelte is not an adjective commonly applied to eyebrows, though it’s perfectly appropriate to do so—one of the word’s meanings is “sleek,” and it is often used to describe such disparate things as gowns and sports cars having clean lines. But “svelte eyebrows” also makes etymological sense; svelte came to English (by way of French) from the Italian adjective svelto, which itself comes from the verb svellere, meaning “to pluck out.” Since its debut in English in the early 19th century, however, svelte has more often been used with its original meaning to describe a person’s body—not just the tufts of hair above their eyes—as slender, graceful, or lithe.
Synonyms
Examples of svelte in a Sentence
IEEE Spectrum, 14 Jan. 2025
The svelte zoom lens is razor-sharp, focuses quickly, and matches up with APS-C mirrorless cameras quite well.
—PCMAG, 2 Dec. 2024
The Spider adds a healthy 185 pounds versus the Roma coupe, yet still only tips the scales at a relatively svelte 3,430 pounds.
—Michael Teo Van Runkle, Forbes, 27 Sep. 2024
The most effective scene-setting presences, however, may be the trio of svelte Hunnies (Mamie Duncan-Gibbs, Stephanie Pope Lofgren, and Allison M. Williams) who stalk the stage like Jazz Age renderings of the Fates.
—Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 22 Feb. 2024
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Dictionary Entries Near svelte
Cite this Entry
“Svelte.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/svelte. Accessed 21 Jan. 2025.
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from French svelte "slender, sleek," from Italian svelto (same meaning), derived from svellere "to pluck out," derived from Latin evellere "to pluck"
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