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:
“I don’t know, we’ll see. It’s up in the air, but it’s lovely to think about.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
One of those deaths was Alex Cottam, a 27-year-old software engineer from Eccles described by his mother, Michelle, as "lovely, clever, and popular".
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
"The Smyrnaeans have the river Meles, with its lovely water, and at its springs is the grotto, where they say Homer composed his poems," wrote the 2nd-century Greek chronicler and geographer Pausanias.
From Barron's ● Aug. 17, 2026
Peaches are particularly lovely here, though I’ve made the same syrup with blackberries to equally good effect.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026
As it turned out, the cook had once seen a lovely picture postcard of Budapest, and the beauty and blueness of the Danube River had left her curious about Hungarian cuisine ever since.
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
Fanny and Stella, middle-class lovelies in hoop skirts, engage in a warm embrace.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2025
Persimmons, grapefruit, kumquats and perhaps the most delectable and elusive of all the mandarins: the tiny, seedless kishus — all of these little lovelies thrive in our climate.
From Salon ● Nov. 2, 2023
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
"Welcome, my lovelies; I am Rose Bertain, House Orléans, and Royal Beauty Minister to our great kingdom. I have a message from Her Majesty."
From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton
But the settings—sailboats, grottoes, caves, lush gardens, elegant townhouses—couldn’t be lovelier.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
One newspaper wrote that "it would be difficult to find anyone lovelier than her" while another raved about "her lovely features and lustrous eyes and graceful movements".
From BBC ● Jan. 12, 2023
I was nervous, and she couldn't have been lovelier.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2022
Few places are lovelier for cows to ruminate in than the Valais in southern Switzerland.
From New York Times ● Jun. 23, 2022
“You are even lovelier than I was told, princess,” he declared.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
Anne Boleyn actress Jodie Turner-Smith described Jonsson as the "loveliest human" and said she was "seated" for his performance.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
Her “Left Over,” which she first recorded for 2015’s “For One to Love,” is the loveliest track here, befitting the classics surrounding it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026
Finn’s hyperactive sense of smell and bottomless appetite provide lighthearted comic relief, while the descriptions of Chase running are some of the book’s loveliest passages.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 20, 2026
"I booked into a B&B. The only thing around me was fields and cows and the loveliest woman running this B&B," she said.
From BBC ● Jan. 5, 2026
The Xhoma family had five daughters, each of them lovely, but the loveliest of all was named Didi.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
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.
