Also (rare) svelt. [F. (= It. svelto),:—pop.L. *exvellitu-, pa. pple. of *exvellĕre, f. ex out + vellĕre to pluck.] Slim, slender, willowy.
c. 1817. Fuseli, in Lect. Paint., x. (1848), 594. The Medicean Venus, however ‘svelt,’… has in length no more than seven heads and a half.
1838. Granville, Spas Germ., 246. The tall, svelte, pale, and interesting Countess P—k—n.
1887. Miss Braddon, Like & Unlike, iii. The Matron led the way, lovely, smiling,… svelte, and graceful.
