beautiful

[byoo-tuh-fuhl]

adjective

1. having beauty; possessing qualities that give great pleasure or satisfaction to see, hear, think about, etc.; delighting the senses or mind.

   a beautiful dress;

   a beautiful speech.

   Synonyms: beauteous, fair, attractive, seemly, comely
   Antonyms: ugly

2. excellent of its kind.

   a beautiful putt on the seventh hole; The chef served us a beautiful roast of beef.

3. wonderful; very pleasing or satisfying.

noun

1. the beautiful,

   1. the concept of beauty.

   2. (used with a plural verb),  beautiful things or people collectively.

      the good and the beautiful.

   3. the ideal of beauty.

      to strive to attain the beautiful.

interjection

1. wonderful; fantastic.

   You got two front-row seats? Beautiful!

2. extraordinary; incredible: used ironically.

   Your car broke down in the middle of the freeway? Beautiful!

beautiful

/ ˈbjuːtɪfʊl /

adjective

1. possessing beauty; aesthetically pleasing

2. highly enjoyable; very pleasant

   the party was beautiful

Other Word Forms

• beautifully adverb
• beautifulness noun
• unbeautiful adjective
• unbeautifully adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of beautiful¹

First recorded in 1520–30; beauty + -ful

Example Sentences

"It's emotionally huge," she said, "with beautiful sides to it but also a lot of pain."

From BBC

Tom Hibbert advises us to "be good to ladybirds as they are both beautiful and the gardeners' friend, keeping numbers of plant sucking bugs like aphids in check as they are voracious carnivores."

From BBC

"I lost my home, which is destroyed. We lost all of the beautiful life that we lived before the war."

From BBC

In one version of Irish myth, selkies were seals that turned into beautiful women at night when they went ashore.

From Los Angeles Times

Real performances carry with them a beautiful imperfection, and it is within this often messy mortality that they feel truly alive.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• alluring 
• appealing 
• attractive 
• exquisite 
• gorgeous 
• handsome 
• lovely 
• magnificent 
• pulchritudinous 
• ravishing 
• stunning 

When To Use

What are other ways to say beautiful?

A person or thing that is beautiful possesses qualities that give great pleasure to see, hear, or think about. When should you use this adjective over handsome, lovely, or pretty? Find out on Thesaurus.com.