beautiful

English Online Dictionary. What means beautiful‎? What does beautiful mean?

English

Etymology

From Middle English bewteful, beautefull (“attractive to the eye, beautiful”), equivalent to beauty +‎ -ful. In this sense, largely displaced Old English fæġer (whence fair).

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: byo͞oʹtĭ-fəl, IPA^(key): /ˈbjuːtɪ.fəl/, /ˈbjuːtɪ.fʊl/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈbju.tɪ.fəl/, [bju.ɾə.fəl]
• Hyphenation: beau‧ti‧ful

Adjective

beautiful (comparative more beautiful, superlative most beautiful)

1. Possessing beauty, impressing the eye; attractive. [from 1520s]
   1. Used emphatically or ironically, after the noun it qualifies. [from 1850s]

2. That one likes very much.

3. Affording pleasure to any of the senses, especially that of hearing; delightful. [from 1860s]

4. Impressing with charm in an intellectual or moral way, through inherent suitability or elegance. [from 1580s]

Usage notes

• When used to refer to human appearance, the word is more commonly used for women, with handsome being more common for men, though neither is incorrect. For a man, beautiful could connote a more delicate or androgynous appearance.
• The comparatives beautifuler and beautifuller, and the superlatives beautifulest and beautifullest have also occasionally been used, but are nonstandard.

Synonyms

• (possessing charm and attractive): beauteous, attractive, cute, fair, good-looking, gorgeous, sheen, handsome, hot (slang), lovely, nice-looking, pretty, shapely, fit (slang)
• (of the weather): clear, fine, nice, pleasant, sunny
• (well executed): excellent, exceptional, good, great, marvellous/marvelous, perfect, stylish, wonderful
• (ironic: how unfortunate): great, marvellous/marvelous, nice, very nice, wonderful (any of these can be prefixed with an intensifier such as bloody, damned or just)
• See also Thesaurus:beautiful

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “possessing charm and attractive”): grotesque, hideous, homely, plain, misshapen, repulsive, ugly; unbeautiful
• (antonym(s) of “of the weather”): bad, cloudy, dull, miserable, overcast, rainy, wet
• (antonym(s) of “well executed”): average, bad, mediocre, poor, shoddy, substandard, terrible, weak

Derived terms

Related terms

• beauty
  • See also Thesaurus:beautiful woman

Translations

References

• “beautiful, adj., n., & adv.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

Noun

beautiful (plural beautifuls)

1. Someone who is beautiful. Can be used as a term of address.