graceful

grace·ful
G2R1A1C3E1F4U1L1
UK, US/ˈɡɹeɪsfʊl/

adjective

Having or showing grace in movement, shape, or proportion.

“She is a graceful dancer.”

Less commonScrabble 14

Meanings

adjectivegraceful (comparative more graceful, superlative most graceful)

comparative more graceful · superlative most graceful · alternative obsolete gracefull

  1. Having or showing grace in movement, shape, or proportion.

    She is a graceful dancer.

    1 more example

    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.

    1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 1, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC

    Synonyms: airy

  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. computingGradual and non-disruptive.

    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.

    2009, Dale Liu, Cisco Router and Switch Forensics

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveHaving or showing grace in movement, shape, or proportion.

Similar

More synonyms by meaning

adjectivecharacterized by beauty of movement, style, form, or execution

Opposite

adjectivesuggesting taste, ease, and wealth

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Middle Englishgraceful
  2. Englishgraceful

From Middle English graceful. By surface analysis, grace + -ful.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek ἁβρός
  • ἁβρός (habrós)showing grace
Arabic رَشِيق, ظَرِيف
  • رَشِيق (rašīq)showing grace
  • ظَرِيف (ẓarīf)showing grace
  • لَطِيف (laṭīf)showing grace
  • صُبَاح (ṣubāḥ)showing grace
  • وَسِيم (wasīm)showing grace
Bulgarian грацио́зен, елега́нтен
  • грацио́зен (graciózen)showing grace
  • елега́нтен (elegánten)showing grace
Catalan gràcil, graciós
  • gràcilshowing grace
  • graciósshowing grace
Chinese Mandarin 優雅 /优雅, 優美 /优美
  • 優雅 /优雅 (yōuyǎ)showing grace
  • 優美 /优美 (yōuměi)showing grace
Czech elegantní
  • elegantníshowing grace
Dutch elegant, gracieus
  • elegantshowing grace
  • gracieusshowing grace
  • sierlijkshowing grace
Esperanto gracia
  • graciashowing grace
Estonian graatsiline, solge
  • graatsilineshowing grace
  • solgeshowing grace
Finnish sulava, sulavaliikkeinen
  • sulavashowing grace
  • sulavaliikkeinenshowing grace
  • viehättäväshowing grace
  • viehkeäshowing grace
  • komeashowing grace
  • kaunisshowing grace
  • upeashowing grace
  • uljasshowing grace
French gracieux
  • gracieuxshowing grace
German anmutig, ansprechend
  • anmutigshowing grace
  • ansprechendshowing grace
  • elegantshowing grace
  • graziösshowing grace
  • reizendshowing grace
  • zierlichshowing grace
  • huldreichshowing grace
Greek χαριτωμένος, εύχαρις
  • χαριτωμένος (charitoménos)showing grace
  • εύχαρις (éfcharis)showing grace
Hindi शोभनीय
  • शोभनीय (śobhnīya)showing grace
Hungarian méltóságteljes
  • méltóságteljesshowing grace
Irish spéiriúil
  • spéiriúilshowing grace
Italian elegante, aggraziato
  • eleganteshowing grace
  • aggraziatoshowing grace
  • leggiadroshowing grace
  • belloshowing grace
Japanese 優雅, 淑やか
  • 優雅 (yūga)showing grace
  • 淑やか (shitoyaka)showing grace
Māori huatau
  • huataushowing grace
Persian باوقار
  • باوقار (bâ-vaqâr)showing grace
Polish pełen wdzięku, powabny
  • pełen wdziękushowing grace
  • powabnyshowing grace
Portuguese gracioso
  • graciososhowing grace
Russian грацио́зный, изя́щный
  • грацио́зный (gracióznyj)showing grace
  • изя́щный (izjáščnyj)showing grace
  • элега́нтный (elegántnyj)showing grace
Spanish grácil, gracioso
  • grácilshowing grace
  • graciososhowing grace
  • graciadoshowing grace
  • agraciadoshowing grace
Swedish behagfull, elegant
  • behagfullshowing grace
  • elegantshowing grace
  • anslåendeshowing grace
  • tilltalendeshowing grace
  • förtjusandeshowing grace
  • prydligshowing grace
Turkish ağırbaşlı, ince
  • ağırbaşlıshowing grace
  • inceshowing grace
  • vakurshowing grace
  • zarifshowing grace
Cite this entry
APA

graceful. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/graceful

MLA

“graceful.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/graceful. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “graceful,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/graceful.

Source: graceful on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.