✅ Refined describes someone or something that has classy or elegant sensibilities. It’s associated with ideas of good breeding and high status (The party was full of refined people with very refined tastes).
✅ Genteel suggests someone who is polite and elegant, often but not always indicating a kind of affectation or pretense (The actor had a reputation for being a bit too genteel).
✅ Genteel primarily describes your behavior and the way in which you interact with people, often suggesting pretentiousness, whereas refined primarily describes your tastes and feelings (He had a refined palate; She behaved in a delicate and genteel manner).
These synonyms will make your vocabulary more genteel!
✅ First refers to something that happens before something else, for the first time, or in preference to something else (Text me first before you leave).
✅ Initially refers to something that happened first, or happened at the start or beginning of something (He was concerned initially; She initially planned to open a book and coffee shop, but changed her mind).
✅ Initially often implies that something has since changed, while first does not (First she told me what she wanted to do; Initially we had our office in the garage).
✅ Add first to at, and you get the phrase at first, which can mean the same thing as initially.
Make a resolution to get a bigger vocabulary, starting with these synonyms for initially!
✅ Old describes something that belongs to the past, and has gone or faded away (I miss hanging out with my friends in the old days).
✅ Bygone describes something that is past, former, or gone (The photographs reminded her of bygone days).
✅ Old and bygone can both describe a period that is now just in memory, or in history, but old is more general, and doesn’t suggest any particular feeling (The old days weren’t as good as you remember).
✅ Bygone suggests something that evokes nostalgic or wistful feelings (The music was reminiscent of a bygone era).
Try writing about your favorite bygone era with the help of Grammar Coach.