embellish
Americanverb (used with object)
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embellishes,
present (3rd person singular)
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embellished,
past participle, past
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embellishing
present participle
verb
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to improve or beautify by adding detail or ornament; adorn
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to make (a story) more interesting by adding detail
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to provide (a melody, part, etc) with ornaments See ornament
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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embellishernoun
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embellishmentnoun
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overembellishverb (used with object)
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reembellishverb (used with object)
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nonembellishedadjective
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nonembellishingadjective
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unembellishedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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embellishsimple
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embellishessimple
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have embellishedperfect
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has embellishedperfect
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am embellishingprogressive
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are embellishingprogressive
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is embellishingprogressive
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have been embellishingperfect progressive
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has been embellishingperfect progressive
Past
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embellishedsimple
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had embellishedperfect
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was embellishingprogressive
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were embellishingprogressive
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had been embellishingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of embellish
1300–50; Middle English embelisshen < Anglo-French, Middle French embeliss- (stem of embelir ), equivalent to em- em- 1 + bel- (< Latin bellus pretty) + -iss- -ish 2
Explanation
The word "bell" shows up in the middle of embellish, and bells are something that decorate, or embellish something, making it more attractive. If you embellish speech, though, it can get ugly if you add a lot of details that aren't true. Embellish often has the positive meaning of adding something to make it more handsome or beautifully decorated. But, while adding bells to something looks great at first, after a couple of hours of bells ringing in the ears, what was meant to embellish and beautify can get annoying. That's what can happen when you embellish by adding too many false or exaggerated details to a story. Embellishing with true, colorful details and vivid descriptions is what can really enhance the beauty of a story.
Vocabulary lists containing embellish
List 5
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "E"
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The Fault in Our Stars
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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.
See Examples For:
All book adaptations, whether from novels or memoirs, could stand to embellish the facts here and there, or go ahead and reinvent the wheel when possible.
From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2026
Doughnut-decorating robots struggle with seasonal and limited-time designs, so Krispy Kreme employees embellish the sweet treats by hand in an effort to lure younger consumers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
What began as a way to embellish college entrance applications has become a gratifying life experience for the teens as well as the elementary school students.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 31, 2026
The 48-year-old American has long been a controversial figure, often criticized for an overly defensive style, and accused by some of dodging the most dangerous opponents simply to embellish his record.
From Barron's ● Feb. 23, 2026
When the insertions arrived in Florence, the covering letter from Riccardi included the sentence, ‘the author may alter or embellish the wording, so long as the substance is preserved’.
From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin
Though the novel is steeped in research, the island kingdom it portrays predates written records, so Mr. Johnson freely embellishes his intense tale with magic and mythology.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 3, 2025
Howard Hudson’s lighting design embellishes the show with its own grid of electric inspiration.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 27, 2022
“The Banshees of Inisherin,” McDonagh’s new film, embellishes the cartography without necessarily breaking new ground.
From New York Times ● Oct. 20, 2022
Hey, it’s television — a medium that regularly exaggerates and embellishes for the public’s entertainment.
From Seattle Times ● May 15, 2022
Medieval painting, for instance, is to a large extent “applied,” in the sense that it embellishes surfaces which serve other, practical purposes as well—walls, book pages, windows, furniture.
From "History of Art, Volume 1" by H.W. Janson
You’d anticipate moments like that to be embellished with improv, but it’s all tightly scripted.“Of all the TV comedies I’ve worked on, this one has the most already on the page,” says DeYoung.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
Gray shades embellished with a circular “Hogwarts Express” logo covered all the windows, so visitors can’t see outside.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
Drummers embellished the rhythm of partygoers chanting “Knicks in 5.”
From Salon ● Jun. 17, 2026
The more expensive bag - a size 25, was embellished with rhinestones on the clasp and trim - went for nearly seven times the starting bid.
From BBC ● May 21, 2026
The Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole is a paradigm, a human institution possessed of a life of its own, self-regenerating, touched all around by human meddle but constantly improved, embellished by it.
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
The scandal erupted last month after some academics and media reports accused Arday of plagiarising parts of his doctoral thesis and embellishing his life achievements.
From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026
The reason is that the sport’s fancy new automated ball-strike system couldn’t function without it—which means that the days of players embellishing their heights for posterity are officially over.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 1, 2026
One day, Almodóvar discovered that his mother was embellishing, even fabricating, what was in them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2024
And towards the end, we just had this amazing energy between us, me and Jefferson, just going again, again and again, and embellishing the moves.
From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2024
He simply carried on where Dufay left off, thickening and embellishing the polyphonic choral style that you would have heard almost anywhere across Europe in the later fifteenth century.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
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.
