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handsome
[ han-suhm ]
/ ˈhæn səm /
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adjective, hand·som·er, hand·som·est.
having an attractive, well-proportioned, and imposing appearance suggestive of health and strength; good-looking: a handsome man;a handsome woman.
having pleasing proportions, relationships, or arrangements, as of shapes, forms, or colors; attractive: a handsome house;a handsome interior.
considerable, ample, or liberal in amount: a handsome fortune.
gracious; generous; flattering: a handsome compliment;a handsome recommendation.
adroit and appealing; graceful: a handsome speech.
OPPOSITES FOR handsome
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Origin of handsome
historical usage of handsome
Handsome has not gone through as many changes in meaning as nice has, but it has gone through enough. Handsome has only a few related words outside English. In West Frisian, the language most closely related to English and spoken in the northern Netherlands, hānsum means “easy to manage or control, convenient,” as do Dutch handzaam and German handsam.
In the English of the mid-15th century, when this word was first recorded (as hondsom ), it meant “easy to handle” (obsolete now); by the mid-16th century handsome developed the senses “convenient, handy, suitable” (also obsolete) and “courteous, gracious,” and then “generous, noble, magnanimous.” Here we see the development from a meaning closely related to hands to one that simply implies their existence (behind the generosity).
The sense “(of a person) having an attractive appearance” dates from the late 16th century; the sense of “fairly large, considerable (as of an amount of money)” also dates from the latter half of the 16th century.
In the English of the mid-15th century, when this word was first recorded (as hondsom ), it meant “easy to handle” (obsolete now); by the mid-16th century handsome developed the senses “convenient, handy, suitable” (also obsolete) and “courteous, gracious,” and then “generous, noble, magnanimous.” Here we see the development from a meaning closely related to hands to one that simply implies their existence (behind the generosity).
The sense “(of a person) having an attractive appearance” dates from the late 16th century; the sense of “fairly large, considerable (as of an amount of money)” also dates from the latter half of the 16th century.
OTHER WORDS FROM handsome
hand·some·ish, adjectivehand·some·ness, nounsu·per·hand·some, adjectiveWords nearby handsome
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
WHEN TO USE
What are other ways to say handsome?
Someone who is handsome is attractive with a well-proportioned appearance that is suggestive of health and strength. How does handsome compare with lovely, beautiful, and pretty? Learn more on Thesaurus.com.
How to use handsome in a sentence
British Dictionary definitions for handsome
handsome
/ (ˈhændsəm) /
adjective
noun
Southwest English a term of endearment for a beloved person, esp in my handsome
Derived forms of handsome
handsomely, adverbhandsomeness, nounWord Origin for handsome
C15: handsom easily handled; compare Dutch handzaam; see hand, -some 1
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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