Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Stylishness or elegance.
  • noun Swagger or pretension.
  • adjective Swanky.
  • intransitive verb To move or act ostentatiously or pretentiously; swagger.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun See swang.
  • Thin; slender; pliant.
  • Agile.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective dated Fashionably elegant.
  • noun A fashionably elegant person.
  • noun Ostentation.
  • verb To swagger, to show off.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun elegance by virtue of being fashionable
  • verb display proudly; act ostentatiously or pretentiously
  • adjective imposingly fashionable and elegant

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Perhaps akin to Middle High German swanken, to swing.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Perhaps from swanky, or perhaps from an Old English root, related to the Scots swank and the Middle High German swanken, modern German schwanken ("to sway").

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Examples

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  • Ten times more addictive than marijuana!

    October 2, 2008

  • So is Hilary

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