- the act of refining or the state of being refined
- a fine or delicate point, distinction, or expression; a subtlety
- fineness or precision of thought, expression, manners, etc; polish or cultivation
- a device, change, adaptation, etc, designed to improve performance or increase efficiency
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
re•fine•ment /rɪˈfaɪnmənt/USA pronunciation
n.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- [uncountable] fineness or elegance of feeling, taste, manners, language, etc.
- the act or process of refining;
the quality or state of being refined:[uncountable]the refinement of oil. - an improved form of something:[countable]The new theory is a refinement of an earlier one.
- [countable] a detail or device added to improve something.
re•fine•ment
(ri fīn′mənt),USA pronunciation n.
- fineness or elegance of feeling, taste, manners, language, etc.
- an instance of refined feeling, manners, etc.
- the act or process of refining.
- the quality or state of being refined.
- a subtle point or distinction.
- subtle reasoning.
- an improved, higher, or extreme form of something:a refinement of the old system.
- Mathematicsa set whose elements include the elements of a given set.
- refine + -ment 1605–15
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
refinement /rɪˈfaɪnmənt/ n
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'refinement' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
Augustan
- barbarous
- bestial
- blunt
- breeding
- civilization
- coarse
- crude
- cult
- cultivation
- culture
- cultus
- decadent
- delicacy
- elegance
- finish
- gentleman
- illiberal
- nicety
- parvenu
- plebeian
- polish
- rough
- rough-and-ready
- rude
- rugged
- style
- uncouth
- unsophisticated
- untutored
- barbarian
- Boeotian
- couth
- crass
- decorated
- exquisite
- fine
- finick
- gentility
- Goth
- gross
- handsome
- high-toned
- homely
- human
- improvement
- inelegant
- inurbane
- la-di-da
- lapidary
