embellish

[ em-bel-ish ]
/ ɛmˈbɛl ɪʃ /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR embellish ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

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

QUIZZES

HEED THE VOX POPULI, AND TAKE THIS WORD OF THE DAY QUIZ!

Test your memory on these verbal firecrackers from the week of June 29 to July 5!
Question 1 of 7
anchorite
a granular metamorphic rock.
a person who has retired to a solitary place for a life of religious seclusion.
a hobble or fetter for a horse or other animal.
TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

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 embellished

bedeck, exaggerate, gild, overstate, festoon, embroider, adorn, trim, magnify, deck, color, enrich, elaborate, ornament, beautify, enhance, array, garnish, fudge, grace

Example sentences from the Web for embellished

British Dictionary definitions for embellished

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