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Added 9 October 2026

svelte

/ˈsvɛlt/ adjective

adjective Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about svelte at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Being of delicate or slender build.
she was slender as a willow shoot is slender

Origin

Borrowed from French svelte, from Italian svelto (“stretched out”), past participle of svellere (“to pluck out, root out”), from Vulgar Latin *exvellere, from ex + vellere (“to pluck, stretch”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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