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embellish

[ em-bel-ish ]
/ ɛmˈbɛl ɪʃ /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR embellish

verb (used with object)

to beautify by or as if by ornamentation; ornament; adorn.
to enhance (a statement or narrative) with fictitious additions.

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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--ish2

OTHER WORDS FROM embellish

Words nearby embellish

Embden-Meyerhof pathway, embed, embedded microchips, embedding, embelin, embellish, embellishment, ember, Ember day, Ember days, ember goose
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Words related to embellish

bedeck, dress up, exaggerate, gild, overstate, festoon, embroider, adorn, spiff up, trim, magnify, deck, color, enrich, elaborate, ornament, beautify, enhance, array, garnish

Example sentences from the Web for embellish

British Dictionary definitions for embellish

embellish
/ (ɪmˈbɛlɪʃ) /

verb (tr)

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 ornamentsSee ornament (def. 5)

Derived forms of embellish

embellisher, nounembellishment, noun

Word Origin for embellish

C14: from Old French embelir, from bel beautiful, from Latin bellus
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012