Synonyms for refinement
rɪˈfaɪn məntre·fine·ment

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. refinement

   Civilization applies to nations, denoting the sum of those civil, social, economic, and political attainments by which a community is removed from barbarism; a people may be civilized while still far from refinement or culture, but civilization is susceptible of various degrees and of continued progress. Refinement applies either to nations or individuals, denoting the removal of what is coarse and rude, and a corresponding attainment of what is delicate, elegant, and beautiful. Cultivation, denoting primarily the process of cultivating the soil or growing crops, then the improved condition of either which is the result, is applied in similar sense to the human mind and character, but in this usage is now largely superseded by the term culture, which denotes a high development of the best qualities of man's mental and spiritual nature, with especial reference to the esthetic faculties and to graces of speech and manner, regarded as the expression of a refined nature. Culture in the fullest sense denotes that degree of refinement and development which results from continued cultivation through successive generations; a man's faculties may be brought to a high degree of cultivation in some specialty, while he himself remains uncultured even to the extent of coarseness and rudeness. Compare HUMANE; POLITE.

   Synonyms:
   civilization, cultivation, culture, elegance, politeness

   Antonyms:
   barbarism, boorishness, brutality, clownishness, coarseness, grossness, rudeness, rusticity, savagery, vulgarity

Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. refinement

   Synonyms:
   clarification, purification, filtration, sublimation, polish, elegance, cultivation, civilization, subtilty, finesse, sophistry

   Antonyms:
   turbidity, grossness, foulness, coarseness, impurity, unrefinement, rudeness, inelegance, boorishness, broadness, bluntness, unsophisticatedness

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. polish, refinement, culture, cultivation, finishnoun

   a highly developed state of perfection; having a flawless or impeccable quality

   "they performed with great polish"; "I admired the exquisite refinement of his prose"; "almost an inspiration which gives to all work that finish which is almost art"--Joseph Conrad

   Synonyms:
   purification, goal, acculturation, shade, last, polish, finish, culture, ending, coating, glossiness, cultivation, nuance, nicety, destination, civilization, finis, finishing, refining, stopping point, civilisation, elaboration, subtlety, close, gloss, conclusion, burnish, finale

2. refinement, elaborationnoun

   the result of improving something

   "he described a refinement of this technique"

   Synonyms:
   intricacy, purification, enlargement, shade, elaborateness, polish, involution, finish, culture, amplification, cultivation, nuance, nicety, working out, civilization, refining, civilisation, elaboration, subtlety, expansion

3. refining, refinement, purificationnoun

   the process of removing impurities (as from oil or metals or sugar etc.)

   Synonyms:
   purgation, nicety, culture, elaboration, shade, subtlety, civilization, cultivation, refining, polish, nuance, civilisation, finish, purification

4. nuance, nicety, shade, subtlety, refinementnoun

   a subtle difference in meaning or opinion or attitude

   "without understanding the finer nuances you can't enjoy the humor"; "don't argue about shades of meaning"

   Synonyms:
   cultivation, wraith, shade, shadiness, polish, refining, rightness, specter, ghost, purification, tincture, tint, nuance, shadowiness, nicety, culture, civilization, spectre, spook, civilisation, elaboration, subtlety, tone, finish, justness, niceness, tad

5. refinement, civilization, civilisationnoun

   the quality of excellence in thought and manners and taste

   "a man of intellectual refinement"; "he is remembered for his generosity and civilization"

   Synonyms:
   nicety, culture, elaboration, shade, subtlety, civilization, cultivation, refining, polish, nuance, civilisation, finish, purification

Matched Categories

1. • Excellence
   • Improvement
   • Processing

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. refinementnoun

   Synonyms:
   improvement

2. refinementnoun

   Synonyms:
   elegance, polish, purity, delicacy, cultivation, civility, good-breeding

3. refinementnoun

   Synonyms:
   subtilty, extreme nicety

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated WordsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. refinementnoun

   Synonyms:
   culture, elegance, polish, fastidiousness, purification, sublimation, subtility, clarification, tenuity

   Antonyms:
   vulgarity, coarseness, crudity, barbarity, philistinism

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:0.0 / 0 votes

1. List of paraphrases for "refinement":

   refining, sophistication, improvement, refinery, fine-tuning, improving

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How to use refinement in a sentence?

1. Eric Abbruzzese:

   Refinement over revolution isn't a bad thing but if purses are tightening with the economy then these announcements are a harder sell without anything groundbreaking.

2. Bryant McGill:

   Courtesy is a silver lining around the dark clouds of civilization; it is the best part of refinement and in many ways, an art of heroic beauty in the vast gallery of man’s cruelty and baseness.

3. Eugène Delacroix:

   The source of genius is imagination alone, the refinement of the senses that sees what others do not see, or sees them differently.

4. Benno C. Schmidt, Jr.:

   Yale is a crucible in American life for the accommodation of intellectual achievement, of wisdom, of refinement, with the democratic ideals of openness, of social justice and of equal opportunity.

5. Bryant H. McGill:

   Courtesy is a silver lining around the dark clouds of civilization; it is the best part of refinement and in many ways, an art of heroic beauty in the vast gallery of man's cruelty and baseness.