swank

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun elegance by virtue of being fashionable
  2. verb display proudly; act ostentatiously or pretentiously
  3. adjective imposingly fashionable and elegant

Etymology

From dialectal swank (“to strut, behave ostentatiously”), perhaps from an unrecorded Old English root, derived from Proto-Germanic *swankijaną (“to cause to sway, swing”) or from Proto-Germanic *swankaz (“lithe, bendsome, slender”), related to the Scots swank and the Middle High German swanken, modern German schwanken (“to sway”).

In classic literature

Synonyms

chic, chicness, chichi, modishness, smartness, stylishness, last word

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