lovely
Americanadjective
-
lovelier,
comparative
-
loveliest
superlative
-
charmingly or exquisitely beautiful.
a lovely flower.
-
having a beauty that appeals to the heart or mind as well as to the eye, as a person or a face.
-
delightful; highly pleasing.
to have a lovely time.
-
of a great moral or spiritual beauty.
a lovely character.
noun
-
lovelies
plural
-
Informal. a beautiful woman, especially a show girl.
-
any person or thing that is pleasing, highly satisfying, or the like.
Every car in the new line is a lovely.
adverb
adjective
-
very attractive or beautiful
-
highly pleasing or enjoyable
a lovely time
-
loving and attentive
-
inspiring love; lovable
noun
Usage
What are other ways to say lovely?
The adjective lovely describes people or things that are charmingly or exquisitely beautiful. How is it different from beautiful, handsome, and pretty? Learn more on Thesaurus.com.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of lovely
First recorded before 900; Middle English luvelich, Old English luflīc “amiable”; love + -ly
Explanation
You've probably heard the adjective lovely to describe something good looking, but did you know that, as a noun, lovely refers, specifically, to a beautiful girl employed as a photographer’s model? From the Old English luflic “affectionate, loveable,” comes lovely, an adjective that describes a person’s or thing’s attractiveness. Find the word love in there — it's something so attractive you can't help but love it. Lovely can also refer to something delightful. For example, a pretty selection of cakes and pastries arranged on a doily could be described as lovely. Anything from your girlfriend to a fresh coat of red paint on your motorcycle can be lovely.
Vocabulary lists containing lovely
Call of Beauty: Synonyms for "Beautiful"
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"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"
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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.
See Examples For:
They played a lovely “The Unforgiven” and dedicated an exploratory take on “Orion” to Cliff Burton again, followed by Thin Lizzy’s “Whiskey In The Jar,” a major influence on their riffing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2026
Bellingham produced a lovely pass to thread Kane through for the first goal, scored England's second and assisted Saka for England's fourth.
From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026
“It had such a lovely, genuine excitement to it,” Cumming says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026
"Then he started talking about that team; in the north-east, everyone follows football. It was so lovely."
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026
There was my wheel to spin on, of course, and a lovely pile of nesting material.
From "The World According to Humphrey" by Betty G. Birney
Fanny and Stella, middle-class lovelies in hoop skirts, engage in a warm embrace.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2025
Cool, dark conditions, like those found in an unheated basement, a garage or a shed, will lull your lovelies into dormancy and hold them there in relative suspended animation.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 13, 2021
Hey my lovelies it’s with great disappointment that I willl not be performing this weekend @bbcstrictly due to testing positive with Covid 19.
From BBC ● Oct. 21, 2021
“So happy Dedicated Side B is OUT! Thank you lovelies for the immense support already!” she exclaimed in a separate Instagram post.
From Fox News ● May 21, 2020
I thought I should maybe apologize for what I did to her lovelies.
From "The Boy in the Black Suit" by Jason Reynolds
Introduced in 2025, the two-seat, mid-front-mounted GT replaced the retiring Roma, a lovelier and more astute interpretation of the brief, complete with a historically redolent “eggcrate” grille.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2026
Lifestyle influencers make a vocation out of selling some lovelier version of life, presenting a model to which we can aspire.
From Salon ● Feb. 1, 2023
Barrymore also previously interviewed Armstrong on her US daytime TV show, The Drew Barrymore Show, saying the 12-year-old "could not have been lovelier".
From BBC ● Jan. 27, 2023
I was nervous, and she couldn't have been lovelier.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2022
The spot could not have been lovelier: a high point of the mountain path with a splendid view all the way back to Florin Channel.
From "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman
Whether it’s “ba-dee-yah” or “ah-OOO-uh” or “na-na-na,” melding your voice with your neighbors’ can be the loveliest, most human experience around.
From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2026
The Los Angeles native’s cryptic social media presence is a gingerbread-crumb trail to the loveliest images you’ve never seen — but will, probably in your favorite magazine, in one to three months.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
The loveliest skyscraper, however, is in New York.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2026
“It’s just the loveliest thought, isn’t it, that they live on and exist within us,” says Al-Shamahi.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2025
Laura watched Ma’s skirt swaying and her little waist bending and her dark head bowing, and she thought Ma was the loveliest dancer in the world.
From "Little House in the Big Woods" by Laura Ingalls Wilder
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.
