soigne

****************************************************************
Happy New Edition! Ring in the New Year with 
Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/book.pl?c11.htm&1
****************************************************************

The Word of the Day for January 2 is: 

soigne   \swahn-YAY\   adjective
    *1 : dressed with great care and elegance : well-groomed, 
sleek
     2 : elegantly maintained or designed

Example sentence: 
     Wearing a fetching evening gown, Alyssa looked soigne and 
sophisticated and ready for a night on the town.

Did you know?
     Not surprisingly, "soigne" 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 a recent article on 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, soigne, 
different from you and me." (Josh Patner, _The New York Times_, 
April 11, 2004)

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.