embellish
Americanverb (used with object)
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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reembellishverb (used with object)
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overembellishverb (used with object)
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embellishernoun
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embellishmentnoun
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nonembellishedadjective
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nonembellishingadjective
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unembellishedadjective
Conjugated Forms
Present
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has embellishedperfect 3rd person singular
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have embellishedperfect
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have been embellishingperfect progressive
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has been embellishingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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is embellishingprogressive 3rd person singular
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am embellishingprogressive 1st person singular
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are embellishingprogressive
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embellishessingular 3rd person
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embellishingparticiple
Past
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had embellishedperfect
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were embellishingprogressive plural
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had been embellishingperfect progressive
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was embellishingprogressive singular
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embellishedparticiple
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embellishedsimple
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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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.
