embellishment
Americannoun
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an ornament or decoration.
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a fictitious addition, as to a factual statement.
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Music.
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the act of embellishing.
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state of being embellished.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of embellishment
Explanation
Does your cupcake have chocolate icing on top, plus chocolate sprinkles AND a swirl of white chocolate? If so, that swirl of white chocolate is considered an embellishment — an unnecessary decorative detail designed purely to attract you. Also, can we have a bite? Anything can have an embellishment, not just a cupcake; a building can have an unnecessary decorative element, and so can an explanation or a story. There is often a sense of deception implied by the word: it may be a harmless swirl of white chocolate but it can also be a detail designed to fool someone. Real estate agents are experts at adding embellishments to their descriptions of properties that may not be entirely true. Watch out for embellishments.
Vocabulary lists containing embellishment
Just Mercy
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The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
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The Night Circus
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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.
Smart Bomb and Club Chai, whose rosters of DJs and performers intersect, value accessible, DIY spaces – blank canvases they can embellish with visuals and sounds to their liking.
From The Guardian • Mar. 1, 2019
If you’re inclined to embellish with a sauce, make it the velvety, marrow-flecked, shiro dashi bordelaise.
From Seattle Times • Oct. 4, 2018
He can then embellish with more functionality, challenges, a room background or alter the blocks.
From Washington Times • Dec. 12, 2017
A large courtyard is an interactive playground of sorts, with a rock-climbing wall, spinners to test youngsters' agility and a monastery fashioned from 850,000 Lego bricks, which kids can embellish with their own Lego creations.
From Los Angeles Times • May 5, 2016
The days of quietude, and the pleasures of home, which Josephine so much loved, and which she so well understood how to embellish with friendships and joys, were now forever past away.
From Empress Josephine An historical sketch of the days of Napoleon by Mühlbach, L. (Luise)
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.
