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refined

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refined

  • /ɹɪˈfaɪnd/

verb

  1. participle, past simple past and past participle of refine The raw petroleum was refined into kerosene.

adjective more refined · most refined

  1. obsolete, of people Sagacious, sometimes (derogatory) oversubtle or feigning sagacity.
  2. of thought Subtle, scrupulous, carefully thought out. The argument, while not persuasive, is quite refined.
  3. of processes Developed, improved. The curriculum has been carefully refined to meet the needs of foreign students.
  4. of language Elevated and polished. In the British Isles, Oxbridge is considered refined; Geordie somewhat less so.
  5. of people Elegant, sometimes (derogatory) affected, prissy, or bloodless. Don Draper was a man of refined tastes.

    Similar: dainty

  6. of products Highly-processed and pure. Under current guidelines, refined sugar must be at least five times purer than its raw counterpart.
  7. of metal Free of dross or alloy. The Temple at Jerusalem preferred Tyrian shekels, since even with Ba'al's portrait they bore highly refined silver.
  8. obsolete, of people Morally pure.
  9. of a market Dealing in a refined product such as sugar or petroleum.

noun refineds

  1. The refined form of a commodity, as opposed to its raw or generic form. We're still purchasing copper ore, but the market for refined is weaker.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: sophisticated, couth, cultivated, cultured, well-mannered, polite, superfine, neat, urbane, gracious, prim, genteel, graceful, civilized, elegant, tasteful

Translations

Every language

adj freed from vulgarity

中文斯文 sīwén
Русскийизы́сканный izýskannyj

adj purified

Deutschraffiniert, verfeinert, gereinigt
Русскийочи́щенный očíščennyj

adj cultured, elegant

Españolpaltón, refinado
中文斯文 sīwén
Françaisaffiné, raffiné
Deutschkultiviert, gepflegt
Ελληνικάεκλεπτυσμένος ekleptysménos
Русскийутончённый utončónnyj, изы́сканный izýskannyj, благоро́дный blagoródnyj

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MLA

"refined." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/refined. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

refined. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/refined

Chicago

"refined." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/refined.

BibTeX
@misc{refined_2026,
  title = {refined},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/refined},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}