A.Word.A.Day--svelte

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The Magic of Words

Dec 2, 2010

This week's theme
Words with unusual initial consonants

This week's words
sforzando
kvetch
tmesis
svelte

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A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

svelte

PRONUNCIATION:

(svelt)

MEANING:

adjective:
1. Slender; lithe.
2. Graceful; suave.

ETYMOLOGY:

From French svelte (slender), from Italian svelto (slender), past participle of svellere (to pull out or stretch), from Latin exvellere, from ex- (out) vellere (to pull). First recorded use: 1817.

USAGE:

"Five years ago, Kareena Kapoor, a top young actress in Bollywood, was a typical Punjabi girl, buxom and shapely, luscious like sweet kulfi ice-cream. Today, I imagine, kulfi would make her heave and biryani is never on her plate. For, you see, Kareena saw the light, and today she is svelte and sinewy enough to jog on the streets of LA and wear the tightest of designer jeans."
Yasmin Alibhai-Brown; Why Are Asian Women Aspiring to Western Ideals of Beauty?; The Independent (London, UK); Nov 20, 2010.

Explore "svelte" in the Visual Thesaurus.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

Some people become so expert at reading between the lines they don't read the lines. -Margaret Millar, novelist (1915-1994)

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