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
-
to improve or beautify by adding detail or ornament; adorn
-
to make (a story) more interesting by adding detail
-
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
-
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
-
have been embellishingperfect progressive
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has been embellishingperfect progressive
Past
-
embellishedsimple
-
had embellishedperfect
-
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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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:
There is now a greater focus on players who dive or embellish contact to 'win' penalties.
From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2026
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
There’s a vocabulary and a shorthand in how characters are depicted in TV series, especially in crime thrillers where the police-procedural aspects are supposed to embellish the characterizations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
He was 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. 21, 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
In various chat logs the BBC has seen, the chatbot suggests, affirms and embellishes these ideas.
From BBC ● May 2, 2026
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
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
The Alaïa embellished flats that were everywhere two summers ago were such a hit that the brand made the shoes in other materials because clearly it’s resonating with shoppers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
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
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
A path wraps around the edge of the room like a ledge, though the majority of the floor is sunken and filled with large cushions covered in a rainbow of embellished silk.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
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
He became embarrassed after he was caught fabricating or embellishing stories about playing college baseball, responding to protest scenes and an award he won in the police academy, according to the motion.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
Had the striker gone down, embellishing the level of contact, a VAR review feels like it would have been a certainty.
From BBC ● Apr. 20, 2026
The governor has faced allegations of embellishing his military record.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 9, 2026
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
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