Concinnity

Elegant harmony among the parts of a whole.

Reach for it when giving rare formal praise to design or writing whose elements fit with proportion

The pavilion's concinnity came from repeated curves and restrained materials.

• everyday

  unity

  the work feels whole rather than fragmented

  not when Unity can come from repetition while the result remains clumsy.

• warm

  harmony

  parts combine without discord

  not when Harmony is broad and need not include concinnity's elegance or careful proportion.

• professional

  coherence

  the parts form a logically unified whole

  not when Coherence can be plain or unattractive and says nothing about graceful design.

• formal

  elegance

  refined simplicity is the dominant praise

  not when Elegance can belong to one element without harmony among all the parts.

• formal

  proportion

  relative sizes or amounts create balance

  not when Good proportion is only one possible source of concinnity.

• discord
• awkwardness
• incoherence

• concinnity of design

  The concinnity of design became visible from the central courtyard.

• concinnity of style

  Critics admired the essay's concinnity of style and argument.

• concinnity among

  Careful spacing created concinnity among the otherwise varied objects.

Concinnity is rare outside literary and design criticism; harmony or coherence will serve most readers better.