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

Of course, simple and beautiful things can have their own complexities.

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“I think what she’s done is really perfect and super beautiful,” Elordi says.

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When he died, his mother Ruth “had no reason to believe Bruce had left her anything but a few mementos, a shiny new car, a beautiful dog, and an irreparable hole in her heart.”

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And, at one point midpiece, it sounded as though one of the pianists was making a grand entrance to a Rachmaninoff concerto amid the beautiful roaring din.

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They remembered the car and were amazed at how beautiful it looked.

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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.