embellishment
Americannoun
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an ornament or decoration.
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a fictitious addition, as to a factual statement.
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Music.
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the act of embellishing.
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state of being embellished.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of embellishment
Explanation
Does your cupcake have chocolate icing on top, plus chocolate sprinkles AND a swirl of white chocolate? If so, that swirl of white chocolate is considered an embellishment — an unnecessary decorative detail designed purely to attract you. Also, can we have a bite? Anything can have an embellishment, not just a cupcake; a building can have an unnecessary decorative element, and so can an explanation or a story. There is often a sense of deception implied by the word: it may be a harmless swirl of white chocolate but it can also be a detail designed to fool someone. Real estate agents are experts at adding embellishments to their descriptions of properties that may not be entirely true. Watch out for embellishments.
Vocabulary lists containing embellishment
Just Mercy
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The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
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The Night Circus
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Embellishment is hallmark of gospel, as it had been of 17th, 18th and 19th century opera — the era when gospel developed.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 16, 2018
Embellishment aside, this is what succession planners call “institutional knowledge.”
From BusinessWeek • Jan. 16, 2014
Embellishment and flopping were dismissed with scorn when several players discussed drawing penalties.
From Washington Post
The most topical was a book called Judaism Without Embellishment, published last year by the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences.
From Time Magazine Archive
This Prince, in the five Years time that he has been Bishop, has done more things for the Embellishment of Wurtzbourg than ten of his Predecessors put together.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
