beautiful

beautiful

modif.

1. Having qualities of beauty

   lovely, attractive, appealing, pleasing, pretty, fair, fine, nice, dainty, good-looking, delightful, charming, enticing, fascinating, admirable, rich, graceful, sightly, ideal, delicate, refined, elegant, symmetrical, well-formed, shapely, harmonious, well-made, aesthetic, splendid, gorgeous, brilliant, radiant, exquisite, dazzling, flowerlike, resplendent, magnificent, superb, ornamental, decorative, marvelous, wonderful, glorious, grand, awe-inspiring, imposing, majestic, august, wondrous, excellent, impressive, showy, sublime, heavenly*.

   Antonyms ugly*, hideous*, unsightly. *

2. Applied especially to human beings

   lovely, pretty, attractive, good-looking, comely, fair, handsome, graceful, exquisite, gorgeous, refined, delicate, cute, divine, blooming, rosy, bonny, beauteous, statuesque, Junoesque, pulchritudinous, well-favored, bewitching, enchanting, appealing, ravishing, personable, pleasing, taking, winning, alluring, glamorous, shapely, voluptuous, svelte, lissome, radiant, stunning*, classy*, easy on the eyes*, long on looks*, eye-filling*, built*, well-built*, sexy*, looking good*, foxy*; see also handsome 2.

   Antonyms plain, unattractive, ill-favored.

3. Applied especially to works of art

   aesthetically pleasing, fine, elegant; see artistic 2.

beautiful is applied to that which gives the highest degree of aesthetic pleasure to the senses or to the mind and suggests that the object of delight approximates one's conception of an ideal; lovely refers to that which delights by inspiring affection or warm admiration; handsome implies attractiveness by reason of pleasing proportions, symmetry, elegance, etc. and carries connotations of masculinity, dignity, or impressiveness; pretty implies a dainty, delicate, or graceful quality in that which pleases and carries connotations of femininity or diminutiveness; good-looking is closely equivalent to handsome or pretty, suggesting a pleasing appearance but not expressing the fine distinctions of either word; comely applies to persons only and suggests a wholesome attractiveness of form and features rather than a high degree of beauty; fair, in this comparison, suggests beauty that is fresh, bright, or flawless and, when applied to persons, is used esp. of complexion and features; beauteous, equivalent to beautiful in poetry and lofty prose, is now sometimes used in humorously disparaging references to beauty