Inelegance

noun

noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The state or quality of being inelegant; lack of grace, refinement, beauty, or polish in language, composition, or manners. uncountable, usually

    "The inelegance of the ugly duckling stood in contrast to its ultimate life as a swan."

  2. 2
    the quality of lacking refinement and good taste wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
awkwardnessawkwardnessbabbittrybad tastebarbarismbluntness

Example

More examples

"The inelegance of the ugly duckling stood in contrast to its ultimate life as a swan."

Etymology

From Middle French inélégance, from Late Latin inelegantia.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.