embellish

[em-bel-ish]

verb (used with object)

1. to beautify by or as if by ornamentation; ornament; adorn.

   Synonyms: embroider, bedeck, garnish, decorate

2. to enhance (a statement or narrative) with fictitious additions.

embellish

/ ɪmˈbɛlɪʃ /

verb

1. to improve or beautify by adding detail or ornament; adorn

2. to make (a story) more interesting by adding detail

3. to provide (a melody, part, etc) with ornaments See ornament

Other Word Forms

• embellisher noun
• nonembellished adjective
• nonembellishing adjective
• overembellish verb (used with object)
• reembellish verb (used with object)
• unembellished adjective
• embellishment noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of embellish¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of embellish¹

C14: from Old French embelir, from bel beautiful, from Latin bellus

Example Sentences

The sprouts are more like the main event than a side when generously embellished the way these are, with creamy béchamel, Parmesan and pancetta.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Spending time with his clothes — pinstriped suits accented with sinewy leather, belts embellished with coins and cowrie shells, or delicate yet stiff snakeskin pants — one is struck by the immeasurable depths of his inspiration.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

He said he was "embellishing the account of an actual stop and search and he was doing so for comedic effect".

Read more on BBC

But they returned to the huge and gorgeously embellished basilica above.

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So she kept making them, encouraged by the rave reviews: A chocolate cake for Escoto’s 24th birthday, airbrushed in psychedelic blue and green and embellished with gummy bears.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• adorn 
• bedeck 
• dress up 
• embroider 
• exaggerate 
• festoon 
• gild 
• overstate 
• spiff up www.thesaurus.com