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:
"One of the lovely things about Strumpshaw is that the wildlife is quite accessible," added Deavin, who called the reserve a "hidden gem".
From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2026
“The house itself has a lovely feeling, and it’s so warm,” she shared.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 4, 2026
Now, on “Fifteen,” it arrives through a long, lovely and cleverly harmonized piano introduction by Mr. Iyer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
Alexis Mac Allister: Back in the starting XI and played a lovely reverse ball for Cody Gakpo early on.
From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026
“Yes. I think they would be lovely in my library. I’ll take all three of them and hang them on the wall over the piano.”
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
Fanny and Stella, middle-class lovelies in hoop skirts, engage in a warm embrace.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2025
Estrada’s top tip for growing these lovelies is to plant rhizomes horizontally and shallowly so that the top of the fleshy root is exposed.
From Seattle Times ● May 11, 2024
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
But the settings—sailboats, grottoes, caves, lush gardens, elegant townhouses—couldn’t be lovelier.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 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
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
She was wearing the new blue wool dress for the first time, with a snowy white collar and deep cuffs, and she had never looked lovelier.
From "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth George Speare
The loveliest skyscraper, however, is in New York.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2026
Each rendering is a wager against oblivion, and Mr. Armitage’s is the loveliest wager of the lot.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026
But if “What Do You Mean?” deploys a more conventional tropical-house production, it’s still built around one of the singer’s loveliest vocals.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 16, 2026
Ben Dowell of The Times also awarded it five stars, describing Small Prophets as "the loveliest British comedy since Detectorists".
From BBC ● Feb. 10, 2026
I think cemeteries are one of the loveliest places to be—if you’re not dead, of course.
From "The Pigman" by Paul Zindel
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.
