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Antonyms for refine


Grammar : Verb
Spell : ri-fahyn
Phonetic Transcription : rɪˈfaɪn



Definition of refine

Origin :
  • 1580s, of metals, c.1590 of manners, from re-, intensive prefix, + obsolete fine (v.) "make fine," from fine (adj.) "delicate." Cf. French raffiner, Italian raffinare, Spanish refinar. General and figurative sense is recorded from 1590s; of sugar, from 1610s. Related: Refined; refining.
  • verb purify
  • verb perfect, polish
Example sentences :
  • But the butcher had a sentiment for his business, and knew how to refine upon it.
  • Extract from : « Life And Adventures Of Martin Chuzzlewit » by Charles Dickens
  • Resist it not; it goes to refine and raise thy theory of matter just as much.
  • Extract from : « Essays, First Series » by Ralph Waldo Emerson
  • Loving is an art, and we all need to learn the art and to refine its practice.
  • Extract from : « Herein is Love » by Reuel L. Howe
  • Beer does not refine, perhaps,97 but at any rate it mellows.
  • Extract from : « Europe After 8:15 » by H. L. Mencken, George Jean Nathan and Willard Huntington Wright
  • For the necessity for concentration only serves to strengthen and refine her aspiration.
  • Extract from : « The Heart of Nature » by Francis Younghusband
  • Workers separate the product from the earth, transport it, refine it, fabricate it.
  • Extract from : « The American Empire » by Scott Nearing
  • They will rescue him; they will refine the vileness out of him.
  • Extract from : « Following the Equator, Complete » by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
  • Incidentally the novel may teach, encourage, refine, elevate.
  • Extract from : « The Complete Essays of C. D. Warner » by Charles Dudley Warner
  • To reclaim from a savage or barbarous state; to educate; to refine.
  • Extract from : « The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, Volume 2 » by Hubert Howe Bancroft
  • A definite movement was on to refine the language by foreign decorations.
  • Extract from : « The Greatest English Classic » by Cleland Boyd McAfee

Synonyms for refine

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019