Meanings
plural elegant variations
- countableuncountablejournalismThe use of synonyms to avoid repetition (regarded as a stylistic fault when done excessively).
A closely related rule for encoding legal texts is the same meaning, same form principle. We saw previously that this rule requires lawyers to avoid elegant variation. Instead, they should consistently use one word if they mean the same thing.
1999, Peter M. Tiersma, Legal Language, University of Chicago Press, →ISBN, page 131Synonyms: inelegant variation
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe use of synonyms to avoid repetition (regarded as a stylistic fault when done excessively).
Origin
Introduced by H. W. Fowler and F. G. Fowler in The King's English (1906).
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
elegant variation. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/elegant%20variation
“elegant variation.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/elegant%20variation. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “elegant variation,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/elegant%20variation.
Source: elegant variation on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.