Synonyms for refine
rɪˈfaɪnre·fine

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. refine

   Castigate and chastise refer strictly to corporal punishment, tho both are somewhat archaic; correct and punish are often used as euphemisms in preference to either. Punish is distinctly retributive in sense; chastise, partly retributive, and partly corrective; chasten, wholly corrective. Chasten is used exclusively in the spiritual sense, and chiefly of the visitation of God.

   Synonyms:
   afflict, castigate, chasten, chastise, correct, discipline, humble, punish, purify, soften, subdue, try

   Preposition:
   "We are chastened of the Lord," 1 Cor. xi, 32; "they ... chastened us after their own pleasure, but He for our profit," Heb. xii, 10; "chasten in thy hot displeasure," Ps. iv, 7; chasten with pain; by trials and sorrows.

GCIDERate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Refineverb

   Synonyms:
   To purify, clarify, polish, ennoble.

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:2.7 / 3 votes

1. polish, refine, fine-tune, downverb

   improve or perfect by pruning or polishing

   "refine one's style of writing"

   Synonyms:
   land, push down, pull down, polish up, round off, down, go through, elaborate, belt down, rarify, drink down, round, shoot down, cut down, complicate, kill, toss off, smoothen, calibrate, bolt down, rectify, shine, brush up, graduate, tweak, pour down, smooth, pop, devour, fine-tune, knock down, consume, polish

2. complicate, refine, rarify, elaborateverb

   make more complex, intricate, or richer

   "refine a design or pattern"

   Synonyms:
   elaborate, perplex, lucubrate, exposit, polish, down, rarify, fine-tune, work out, rectify, dilate, expatiate, expand, expound, flesh out, complicate, enlarge

3. refineverb

   treat or prepare so as to put in a usable condition

   "refine paper stock"; "refine pig iron"; "refine oil"

   Synonyms:
   rectify, rarify, down, elaborate, complicate, polish, fine-tune

4. refine, rectifyverb

   reduce to a fine, unmixed, or pure state; separate from extraneous matter or cleanse from impurities

   "refine sugar"

   Synonyms:
   elaborate, reclaim, right, regenerate, polish, down, rarify, fine-tune, correct, rectify, reform, amend, remedy, complicate, repair, remediate

5. refineverb

   attenuate or reduce in vigor, strength, or validity by polishing or purifying

   "many valuable nutrients are refined out of the foods in our modern diet"

   Synonyms:
   rectify, rarify, down, elaborate, complicate, polish, fine-tune

6. refineverb

   make more precise or increase the discriminatory powers of

   "refine a method of analysis"; "refine the constant in the equation"

   Synonyms:
   rectify, rarify, down, elaborate, complicate, polish, fine-tune

Matched Categories

1. • Change
   • Purify
   • Treat

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. refineverb

   Synonyms:
   purify, clarify, fine, defecate

2. refineverb

   Synonyms:
   cultivate, polish, make elegant

3. refineverb

   Synonyms:
   become pure, be clarified

4. refineverb

   Synonyms:
   improve, make improvement

5. refineverb

   Synonyms:
   be over-nice, affect nicety, split hairs, make useless distinctions

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated WordsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. refineverb

   Synonyms:
   purify, defecate, clarify, sublimate, subtilize, sublime, devulgarize, decrassify

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:2.0 / 1 vote

1. List of paraphrases for "refine":

   fine-tune, sharpen, improve, hone, refining, fine-tuning, specify, clarify, develop, improving, refined, enhance

How to pronounce refine?

How to say refine in sign language?

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

1. [["1563","1"],["1581","2"],["1590","13"],["1592","1"],["1598","1"],["1624","1"],["1629","6"],["1631","1"],["1635","2"],["1640","1"],["1642","1"],["1647","2"],["1651","5"],["1653","1"],["1654","1"],["1655","1"],["1656","1"],["1659","3"],["1665","13"],["1666","2"],["1667","3"],["1668","4"],["1669","1"],["1670","1"],["1671","1"],["1673","1"],["1674","2"],["1675","3"],["1676","3"],["1677","6"],["1678","2"],["1679","1"],["1680","5"],["1681","5"],["1682","5"],["1683","5"],["1684","4"],["1686","2"],["1687","3"],["1688","4"],["1689","3"],["1690","4"],["1692","5"],["1693","1"],["1694","3"],["1695","1"],["1696","4"],["1697","2"],["1698","10"],["1699","24"],["1700","13"],["1701","7"],["1702","10"],["1703","14"],["1704","23"],["1705","22"],["1706","28"],["1707","21"],["1708","12"],["1709","17"],["1710","8"],["1711","14"],["1712","18"],["1713","10"],["1714","19"],["1715","12"],["1716","26"],["1717","11"],["1718","7"],["1719","12"],["1720","23"],["1721","15"],["1722","24"],["1723","8"],["1724","25"],["1725","17"],["1726","26"],["1727","19"],["1728","29"],["1729","47"],["1730","38"],["1731","30"],["1732","35"],["1733","15"],["1734","26"],["1735","32"],["1736","35"],["1737","36"],["1738","44"],["1739","25"],["1740","39"],["1741","19"],["1742","23"],["1743","19"],["1744","41"],["1745","19"],["1746","18"],["1747","32"],["1748","36"],["1749","28"],["1750","23"],["1751","61"],["1752","50"],["1753","58"],["1754","77"],["1755","62"],["1756","25"],["1757","53"],["1758","62"],["1759","46"],["1760","38"],["1761","26"],["1762","30"],["1763","51"],["1764","62"],["1765","64"],["1766","69"],["1767","65"],["1768","84"],["1769","50"],["1770","41"],["1771","32"],["1772","34"],["1773","28"],["1774","51"],["1775","74"],["1776","100"],["1777","90"],["1778","67"],["1779","56"],["1780","39"],["1781","33"],["1782","57"],["1783","56"],["1784","64"],["1785","53"],["1786","51"],["1787","87"],["1788","128"],["1789","85"],["1790","66"],["1791","67"],["1792","84"],["1793","105"],["1794","98"],["1795","59"],["1796","97"],["1797","61"],["1798","90"],["1799","81"],["1800","142"],["1801","210"],["1802","162"],["1803","222"],["1804","239"],["1805","208"],["1806","271"],["1807","249"],["1808","337"],["1809","394"],["1810","274"],["1811","428"],["1812","288"],["1813","272"],["1814","280"],["1815","198"],["1816","248"],["1817","334"],["1818","341"],["1819","338"],["1820","405"],["1821","269"],["1822","451"],["1823","450"],["1824","685"],["1825","617"],["1826","404"],["1827","365"],["1828","350"],["1829","355"],["1830","480"],["1831","391"],["1832","359"],["1833","452"],["1834","399"],["1835","428"],["1836","523"],["1837","489"],["1838","470"],["1839","586"],["1840","675"],["1841","687"],["1842","427"],["1843","497"],["1844","525"],["1845","621"],["1846","601"],["1847","560"],["1848","781"],["1849","645"],["1850","750"],["1851","694"],["1852","699"],["1853","763"],["1854","1010"],["1855","768"],["1856","763"],["1857","670"],["1858","717"],["1859","659"],["1860","701"],["1861","469"],["1862","438"],["1863","490"],["1864","595"],["1865","486"],["1866","573"],["1867","492"],["1868","602"],["1869","596"],["1870","549"],["1871","545"],["1872","622"],["1873","576"],["1874","548"],["1875","649"],["1876","633"],["1877","528"],["1878","601"],["1879","613"],["1880","877"],["1881","694"],["1882","709"],["1883","945"],["1884","702"],["1885","719"],["1886","546"],["1887","677"],["1888","867"],["1889","777"],["1890","736"],["1891","831"],["1892","704"],["1893","706"],["1894","799"],["1895","739"],["1896","833"],["1897","828"],["1898","736"],["1899","1017"],["1900","1058"],["1901","1037"],["1902","1045"],["1903","1058"],["1904","1302"],["1905","1217"],["1906","1280"],["1907","1061"],["1908","1032"],["1909","1006"],["1910","987"],["1911","939"],["1912","1036"],["1913","1005"],["1914","867"],["1915","732"],["1916","748"],["1917","822"],["1918","691"],["1919","808"],["1920","1014"],["1921","1040"],["1922","1123"],["1923","1045"],["1924","952"],["1925","1035"],["1926","895"],["1927","1052"],["1928","1028"],["1929","1084"],["1930","1074"],["1931","870"],["1932","849"],["1933","646"],["1934","823"],["1935","1042"],["1936","978"],["1937","934"],["1938","1008"],["1939","1129"],["1940","1179"],["1941","954"],["1942","847"],["1943","618"],["1944","566"],["1945","732"],["1946","1014"],["1947","1199"],["1948","1499"],["1949","1604"],["1950","1612"],["1951","1512"],["1952","1423"],["1953","1389"],["1954","1711"],["1955","1813"],["1956","2084"],["1957","1861"],["1958","2083"],["1959","2330"],["1960","2580"],["1961","3208"],["1962","3183"],["1963","3778"],["1964","3429"],["1965","4070"],["1966","4517"],["1967","4965"],["1968","5394"],["1969","5372"],["1970","5988"],["1971","6198"],["1972","6221"],["1973","6557"],["1974","6484"],["1975","6953"],["1976","7035"],["1977","7576"],["1978","7544"],["1979","8813"],["1980","8927"],["1981","8958"],["1982","9480"],["1983","9985"],["1984","11077"],["1985","11825"],["1986","13286"],["1987","12973"],["1988","14103"],["1989","15547"],["1990","16965"],["1991","17186"],["1992","18413"],["1993","19271"],["1994","20655"],["1995","21625"],["1996","22631"],["1997","24284"],["1998","25288"],["1999","28429"],["2000","31401"],["2001","32666"],["2002","36536"],["2003","40079"],["2004","41880"],["2005","43384"],["2006","43251"],["2007","44012"],["2008","46546"]]

Words popularity by usage frequency

How to use refine in a sentence?

1. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott:

   I don't know how accurate that will be but I dare say it will give us some more evidence and it might enable us to further refine the search area, it might.

2. Jonathan Collins:

   Just as all new, successful technologies are taken for granted by each generation that has never lived without them, the technologies' existence will be part of the fabric and foundation for that generation, they will either develop and refine or reject the technologies they inherit.

3. Richard Wender:

   Screening guidelines will constantly change in response to the emergence of new evidence. This is a good thing. As we learn more, we can refine guidelines based on new information. That's why it's important to keep updating guidelines. Groups are asked to balance the risks and benefits of a screening test, ultimately, there is no perfect answer. Guideline groups must bring their own values into the recommendation. Breast cancer is a good example.

4. Donald Dziva of Hwedza:

   Nowadays electricity is available only from 8pm to 5am. I sleep in my mill or butchery just to catch electricity when it's switched back on. I'm forced to sell meat or refine grain at night. My losses are massive. Two of my kids may (have to) briefly stop attending college next year.

5. James Henry Leigh Hunt:

   It is books that teach us to refine our pleasures when young, and to recall them with satisfaction when we are old.