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.
excellent of its kind: a beautiful putt on the seventh hole; The chef served us a beautiful roast of beef.
wonderful; very pleasing or satisfying.
noun
the concept of beauty (usually preceded by the).
(used with a plural verb)beautiful things or people collectively (usually preceded by the): the good and the beautiful.
the ideal of beauty (usually preceded by the): to strive to attain the beautiful.
interjection
wonderful; fantastic: You got two front-row seats? Beautiful!
extraordinary; incredible: used ironically: Your car broke down in the middle of the freeway? Beautiful!
1. Beautiful,handsome,lovely,pretty refer to a pleasing appearance. A person or thing that is beautiful has perfection of form, color, etc., or noble and spiritual qualities: a beautiful landscape, a beautiful woman.Handsome often implies stateliness or pleasing proportion and symmetry: a handsome man. That which is lovely is beautiful but in a warm and endearing way: a lovely smile.Pretty implies a moderate but noticeable beauty, especially in that which is small or of minor importance: a pretty child.
mid-15c., from beauty + -ful. The beautiful people "the fashionable set" first attested 1964 in (where else?) "Vogue" (it also was the title of a 1941 play by U.S. dramatist William Saroyan). House Beautiful is from "Pilgrim's Progress," where it is a proper name of a place. Related: Beautifully.
