graceful

(grās'fəl)
adj.
Showing grace of movement, form, or proportion: "Capoeira is a graceful ballet of power and control, artists kicking and jumping in synchronized movement" (Alisa Valdes).

gracefully grace'ful·ly adv.
gracefulness grace'ful·ness n.

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Both words are derived from Latin gratia meaning 'the quality of being pleasing', but their meanings are different. Graceful means 'having or showing grace or elegance' and is generally used of physical appearance and movement (a graceful bow / graceful dances / a graceful gesture / graceful lines / a graceful movement). Gracious means 'showing grace, kindly, courteous' and refers to things that people say and do rather than their physical attributes (gracious acknowledgement / gracious hospitality / a gracious response). It also has the meaning 'characterized by elegance and wealth' (gracious living / gracious wealth). The adverb graciously occurs often in the meaning 'courteously, kindly':

'Oh, aye,' said Jock graciously, 'he's magic with that mashie.'—Scotsman, 1976.

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adjective

1. Of such tasteful beauty as to elicit admiration: elegant, exquisite. See beautiful/ugly, style/good style/bad style.
2. Marked by facility, especially of expression: easy, effortless, flowing, fluent, fluid, smooth. See style/good style/bad style.

adj

Definition: agile, charming, lovely
Antonyms: awkward, careless, graceless, inelegant, inept, uncouth, ungraceful, unhandy

IN BRIEF: Having beauty of form or movement.

Tell me I'm talented, Tell me I'm cute, Tell me I'm sensitive, Graceful and wise, Tell me I'm perfect — But tell me the truth. — Shel Silverstein (1932-1999).

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For a list of words related to graceful, see:

• Beautiful, attractive, or well-formed
• Appealing, Elegant, Neat, Rich, or Fancy

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Dansk (Danish)
adj. - yndefuld, graciøs, elegant, smuk

Nederlands (Dutch)
gracieus

Français (French)
adj. - élégant, gracieux, digne

Deutsch (German)
adj. - anmutig, graziös, taktvoll

Ελληνική (Greek)
adj. - χαριτωμένος, χαριτόβρυτος, κομψός

Italiano (Italian)
grazioso, aggraziato

Português (Portuguese)
adj. - gracioso, polido, oportuno, elegante

Русский (Russian)
грациозный, приятный

Español (Spanish)
adj. - encantador, agraciado, precioso, gracioso, elegante, airoso

Svenska (Swedish)
adj. - behagfull, charmerande

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
优美的

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 優美的

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 우아한, 고상한

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - 優雅な, 上品な, 礼儀をわきまえた, 潔い, 優美な

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(صفه) جميل, رشيق, لبق‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮חינני, מובע בחן‬

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