Sunday Word: Soigné
soigné [swahn-yey, swa-nyey]
adjective:
1 Showing sophisticated elegance, fashionable
2 well-groomed, sleek
Examples:
Dalva (Zelda Samson) wears her honey-coloured hair in a soigné updo; her wardrobe consists of little black cocktail dresses and lace. (Wendy Ide, Love According to Dalva review - disturbing but delicately handled French tale of parental abuse, The Guardian, April 2023)
Audrey had the celebrated Hollywood designer Edith Head at her disposal, but the actress knew that, if she was to believably carry off this modern-day Cinderella role, Paris had to play fairy godmother. Specifically Hubert de Givenchy, whose impeccably cut shapes in bold, block colours were the very quintessence of soigné Parisian style. (Five Inspirational (Honorary) Parisiennes, Paris for Dreamers, June 2019)
The exhibition transforms the Frick’s mohair-upholstered East Gallery into a runway for Renoir’s soigné Parisians, and is sure to delight the crowds now assembling for New York’s Fashion Week. (Karen Rosenberg, Soigné Parisians, Fit for a Grand Canvas, The New York Times, February 2012)
In 1963, Kenneth opened his first salon - a decadent five-story, 17,000-square-foot town house on Fifty-fourth Street designed by legendary decorator Billy Baldwin - where devotees like Marella Agnelli and Babe Paley dropped in regularly for seamless cuts and soigné styles. (Catherine Piercy, Shear Genius: Remembering Legendary Hairstylist Kenneth(1927-2013), Vogue, May 2013)
At any rate, he had 'soldier' stamped all over him, was well-dressed, smart, dapper, and soigné; was well-educated and had charming manners. He called himself Jean St André, but I suspected a third name, with a de in front of it. (P C Wren, Beau Geste)
He carried nothing of the bushman about his appearance, at home or in town, being careful and soigné as to his apparel, formal and somewhat courtly in his address. (Rolf Boldrewood, In Bad Company and other stories)
Origin:
'prepared with great attention to detail,' 1821, a French word in English, from French soigné (fem. soignée), from past participle of soigner 'to take care of,' from soin 'care,' which is of unknown origin. (Online Etymology Dictionary)
Not surprisingly, soigné comes from French, where it serves as the past participle of the verb soigner, meaning 'to take care of'. It first appeared in English in the 19th century and can be used to describe such things as an elegant wardrobe, a fancy restaurant, or the extravagant meal one might enjoy at such a restaurant. It can also be used to describe people, as in an article about fashion designer Donna Karan: 'Though her name is really pronounced 'Karen,' people said it with a glamorous continental inflection; it suited their image of a fashion designer: aloof, soigné, different from you and me.' (Merriam-Webster)