beautiful

beautiful

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• enPR: byo͞oʹtĭ-fəl, IPA^(key): /ˈbjuːtɪfəl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: beau‧ti‧ful

Adjective

beautiful (comparative more beautiful, superlative most beautiful)

1. Attractive and possessing beauty.
   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 5, in The China Governess‎:

     It's rather like a beautiful Inverness cloak one has inherited. Much too good to hide away, so one wears it instead of an overcoat and pretends it's an amusing new fashion.

   • 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)‎:

     It is a beautiful kitchen! — It is beautiful.

     Audio (US)

     (file)

   Anyone who has ever met her thought she was absolutely beautiful.

   There's a beautiful lake by the town.

2. Good, admirable.

   He was a beautiful person; he would drop everything to help you.

   You've done a beautiful thing today.

3. (of the weather) Pleasant; clear.

   It's beautiful outside, let's go for a walk.

4. Well executed.

   The skater performed a beautiful axel.

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

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

Derived terms

• beautiful armadillo
• beautiful fruit dove
• beautiful game
• beautifully
• beautiful music
• beautifulness
• beautiful people
• make beautiful music together
• you have beautiful eyes

 

Related terms

• beauty
  • See also Thesaurus:beautiful woman

Translations

possessing charm and attractive

Afrikaans: mooi (af) Albanian: i bukur (sq) American Sign Language: 5@NearCheek-PalmBack RoundVert OpenA@NearJaw-PalmBack Amharic: ቆንጆ (ḳonǧo) Arabic: جَمِيل‎ (ar) (jamīl) Egyptian Arabic: جميل‎ (gamīl) Moroccan Arabic: غزال‎ m (ḡuzāl), جميل‎ (jmīl), زوين‎ m (zwīn) Aramaic: שפירא‎ Armenian: գեղեցիկ (hy) (gełecʿik), սիրուն (hy) (sirun) Assamese: ধুনীয়া (dhunia) (common), ভাল লগা (bhal loga), সুন্দৰ (xundor) Asturian: guapu m, guapa f, formosu m, formosa f Auslan: please add this translation if you can Avar: берцинаб (bercinab) Azerbaijani: gözəl (az), qəşəng (az), yaraşıqlı Bashkir: матур (matur) Basque: please add this translation if you can Belait: jie batien Belarusian: выда́тны (vydátny), прыго́жы m (pryhóžy), харо́шы (xaróšy), красі́вы (krasívy), урадлі́вы (uradlívy), фа́йны (fájny) Bengali: সুন্দর (bn) (sundôrô), খুবসুরত (bn) (khubôsurôtô), হাসিন (bn) (hasin) Bikol Central: magayon (bcl) Breton: brav (br), kaer (br) Brunei Bisaya: bagak Brunei Malay: bisai Bulgarian: краси́в (bg) (krasív), прекра́сен (bg) (prekrásen) Burmese: လှသော (hla.sau:), လှပ (my) (hla.pa.) Buryat: һайхан (hajxan) Catalan: bell (ca) m, bella (ca) f, formós (ca) m, formósa f, bonic (ca) m, bonica (ca) f Cebuano: matahom (of a female), maanyag (of a person) Central Dusun: olumis Chamicuro: pya'c̈homa, pewa puti'na Chechen: хаза (xaza) Chinese: Cantonese: 靚 (yue), 靓 (yue) (leng3), 好睇 (yue) (hou2 tai2) (object), 漂亮 (yue) (piu3 loeng6) (formal), 美麗 (yue), 美丽 (yue) (mei5 lai6) (formal) Dungan: җүн (žün), җүн-ён (žün-i͡on), җиҗүн (žižün), җүнмый (žünmɨy) Mandarin: 漂亮 (zh) (piàoliang), 美 (zh) (měi), 好看 (zh) (hǎokàn), 美麗／美丽 (zh) (měilì) Min Dong: 俊 (cdo) (cóng), 漂亮 (cdo) (piĕu-liông) Min Nan: 媠 (zh-min-nan) (súi), 美麗 (zh-min-nan), 美丽 (zh-min-nan) (bí-lē), 好看 (zh-min-nan) (hó-khòaⁿ), 媠噹噹 (zh-min-nan), 媠当当 (zh-min-nan) (súi-tang-tang) Teochew: 雅 (ngia2) Wu: 漂亮 (wuu) (phiau lian), 好看 (wuu) (hau khoe) Coastal Kadazan: olumis Coptic: ⲛⲉⲥⲉ (nese) Cornish: teg Czech: krásný (cs), pěkný (cs), sličný (cs) (literary) Dalmatian: bial Danish: smuk (da) Dutch: mooi (nl), schoon (nl) Egyptian: (nfr) Esperanto: bela (eo) Estonian: kaunis (et), ilus (et) Faroese: vakur (fo), penur, fagur Fijian: totoka Finnish: kaunis (fi) French: beau (fr) m, belle (fr) f Friulian: biel m, biele f Georgian: მშვენიერი (mšvenieri), ლამაზი (lamazi), ტურფა (ṭurpa), საუცხოო (saucxoo), საყვარელი (saq̇vareli), მომხიბლავი (momxiblavi), მიმზიდველი (mimzidveli), სასიამოვნო (sasiamovno), სანდომიანი (sandomiani), წარმტაცი (c̣armṭaci), თვალწარმტაცი (tvalc̣armṭaci), კოხტა (ḳoxṭa), მოხდენილი (moxdenili), პირმშვენიერი (ṗirmšvenieri) German: schön (de) Gothic: 𐍃𐌺𐌰𐌿𐌽𐍃 (skauns) Greek: ωραίος (el) (oraíos), όμορφος (el) (ómorfos) Ancient: καλός (kalós), ὡραῖος (hōraîos) Gujarati: સુંદર (sundar) Haitian Creole: bò Hawaiian: nani Hebrew: יָפֶה‎ (he) m (yafé), יָפָה‎ (he) f (yafá) Hindi: ख़ूबसूरत (xūbsūrat), सुन्दर (hi) (sundar) Hungarian: szép (hu), gyönyörű (hu) Hunsrik: scheen Icelandic: fallegur (is), fagur (is) Ido: bela (io) Igbo: oma Indonesian: indah (id), cantik (id), ayu (id), molek (id), cakep (id) Interlingua: belle (ia) Irish: álainn, spéiriúil, dathúil, galánta Isan: please add this translation if you can Istriot: biel m, biela f Italian: bello (it) m, bella (it) f, affascinante (it), incantevole (it), meraviglioso (it) Japanese: 美しい (ja) (うつくしい, utsukushii), 綺麗 (ja) (きれい, kirei), 素敵 (ja) (すてき, suteki) Jingpho: tsawm Kabuverdianu: bunitu, benite Kalmyk: please add this translation if you can Kannada: ಸುಂದರ (kn) (sundara) Kazakh: әдемі (kk) (ädemı), әсем (äsem) Khanty: хурамӑӈ (xuramăň) (Kazym) Khmer: ស្អាត (km) (sʼaat), ល្អ (km) (lʼɑɑ) Korean: 아름답다 (ko) (areumdapda) Kunigami: 清ーらせん (すーらせん, sūrasen) Kurdish: Central Kurdish: جوان‎ (ku) (cwan), ئێسک سووک‎ (êsk sûk) Northern Kurdish: xweşik (ku), spehî (ku) Kyrgyz: сулуу (ky) (suluu), көркөм (ky) (körköm), кооз (ky) (kooz), сонун (ky) (sonun), чырайлуу (ky) (çırayluu), чырай жүздүү (ky) (çıray jüzdüü), сулуу (ky) (suluu), укмуштай (ky) (ukmuştay), укмуштай (ky) (ukmuştay), ажайып (ky) (ajayıp), көйүткөн (ky) (köyütkön) Laboya: jorro Ladino: ermozo m, ermoza f Lao: ງາມ (ngām), ງ້ອມ (ngǭm), ຈຸບຸ (chu bu), ຊະແລບ (sa lǣp) Latin: pulcher, formosus m, bellus (la) m Latvian: skaists, daiļš, glīts Limburgish: sjoen Lithuanian: gražus (lt) Lombard: bel, bèll Low German: schöön (nds), scheun Lü: ᦇᦱᧄ (ngaam) Macedonian: убав (ubav), прекрасен (prekrasen) Malay: cantik (ms), indah (ms), molek (ms) Malayalam: സുന്ദരം (ml) (sundaraṃ) Manchu: ᠰᠠᡳᡴᠠᠨ (saikan), ᡥᠣᠴᡳᡴᠣᠨ (hocikon) Manx: aalin, bwaagh, bwoyagh Maori: waiwaiā, pīwari (mi), hūmārie, hūmārire, purotu, rerehua, tau (mi), ātanga, ātaahua Marathi: सुंदर (sundar) Mazanderani: قشنگ‎, خجیر‎ Middle English: beautevous, wynsom Mongolian: сайхан (mn) (sajxan), гуа (mn) (gua), үзэсгэлэнтэй (üzesgelentej) Mòcheno: schea' Navajo: nizhóní, nizhóní yeeʼ Norman: bieau m, belle f Northern Thai: please add this translation if you can Occitan: bèl (oc) m, bèla (oc) f, bèu (oc) m Okinawan: 清らさん, 美らさん (ちゅらさん, churasan) Old Church Slavonic: Cyrillic: ⰾⱑⱂⱏ (lěpŭ) Glagolitic: лѣпъ (lěpŭ), красьнъ (krasĭnŭ) Old East Slavic: лѣпъ (lěpŭ), красьнъ (krasĭnŭ) Old English: fæġer Old Javanese: bĕcik Old Norse: fagr Old Occitan: bel Oriya: ସୁନ୍ଦର (sundôrô) Pashto: ښکلی‎ (ps) (ẍkwëlay) Persian: زیبا‎ (fa) (zibâ), قشنگ‎ (fa) (qašang) Plautdietsch: schmock, scheen Polish: piękny (pl), fajny (pl) Portuguese: belo (pt) m, bela (pt) f, bonito (pt) m, bonita (pt) f, lindo (pt) m, linda (pt) f Punjabi: ਸੁਹਣਾ (pa) (suhṇā) Quechua: sumaq (qu), şumag, k'acha Romagnol: bël Romani: śukar Romanian: frumos (ro) m or n, frumoasă (ro) f Romansch: bel m, bella f, bi m, biala f Russian: краси́вый (ru) (krasívyj), прекра́сный (ru) (prekrásnyj), приго́жий (ru) (prigóžij) (folklore, poetic), ле́пый (ru) (lépyj) (archaic) Sanskrit: सुन्दर (sa) (sundara), सुरूप (sa) (surūpa), मञ्जु (sa) (mañju) Sardinian: bedhu m, bedha f, bellu m, bella f Scottish Gaelic: àlainn, bòidheach, brèagha, fèilleil, grinn, maiseach, rìomhach, sgèimheach Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: ле̑п, лије̑п, лип Roman: lȇp (sh), lijȇp (sh), lip Shan: ႁၢင်ႈလီ (shn) (hāang lǐi) Sicilian: beddu (scn) m, bedda (scn) f Sidamo: xuʼma Sinhalese: ලස්සන (si) (lassana), සුන්දර (sundara) Slovak: krásny, pekný Slovene: lep (sl) Sorbian: Lower Sorbian: rědny Southern Thai: please add this translation if you can Spanish: hermoso (es), bello (es), lindo (es), guapo (es), bonito (es) Sudovian: grazi, skaista f Swahili: zuri (sw) Swedish: fin (sv), vacker (sv) Tagalog: maganda (tl) Tajik: зебо (tg) (zebo), хушрӯ (xušrü) Talysh: ğəşəng, reçin, rəvoşin, xos, cıvon Tamil: அழகிய (ta) (aḻakiya) Tatar: матур (matur), гүзәл (güzäl) Telugu: అందమైన (te) (andamaina), చక్కని (te) (cakkani) Thai: สุนทร (th) (sǔn-tɔɔn), สวย (th) (sǔai), งาม (th) (ngaam) Tocharian B: kartse Toku-No-Shima: 清らさい (きゅらさい, kyurasai) Tswana: -ntle Turkish: güzel (tr) Turkmen: görmegeý, gözel, gelşikli Tutong: lawa' Ukrainian: вродли́вий (vrodlývyj), краси́вий (uk) (krasývyj), га́рний (uk) (hárnyj), хоро́ший (xoróšyj), фа́йний (fájnyj), кра́сний (uk) (krásnyj) Urdu: خوبصورت‎ (xūbsūrat), سندر‎ (sundar) Uyghur: گۈزەل‎ (güzel) Uzbek: yoqimli (uz), goʻzal (uz) Venetian: beło m, beła f Vietnamese: đẹp (vi), xinh đẹp (vi) Volapük: jönik (vo), (augmentative) lejönik (vo) Walloon: bea (wa) m, bele (wa) f Welsh: hardd (cy), prydferth (cy) West Coast Bajau: lawa' West Frisian: moai, kreas Westrobothnian: skönat, vakker Yiddish: שיין‎ (sheyn) Zhuang: baenzsau, gacae, giengh

of weather: pleasant, clear

Armenian: հաճելի (hy) (hačeli) Bulgarian: хубав (bg) (hubav) Chinese: Cantonese: 靚 (yue), 靓 (yue) (leng3), 好天 (yue) (hou2 tin1) Mandarin: 好天 (zh) (hǎotiān) Min Nan: 好天 (zh-min-nan) (hó-thiⁿ) Dutch: mooi (nl) Finnish: kaunis (fi) French: beau (fr) m German: heiter (de), schön (de) Hebrew: נאה‎ (he) (na'e) Hungarian: szép (hu) Irish: álainn, aoibhinn, galánta, breá Italian: (before "tempo") (please verify) bel (it), (after "tempo") (please verify) bello (it) Kurdish: Central Kurdish: خۆش‎ (ku) (xoş), فێنک‎ (ku) (fênk) Limburgish: sjoen Macedonian: убаво n (ubavo) Malay: indah (ms) Maori: paruhi Portuguese: limpo (pt) Slovak: pekný, krásny Spanish: bueno (es), despejado (es), alegre (es) Swedish: fint (sv) n, vackert (sv) n Tamil: அழகிய (ta) (aḻakiya) Telugu: ఆహ్లాదకరమైన (āhlādakaramaina) Ukrainian: ясни́й (uk) (jasnýj)

well executed

Finnish: kaunis (fi), loistava (fi) Hungarian: szép (hu) Italian: magnifico (it), stupendo (it), splendido (it), fantastico (it) Macedonian: убав (ubav) Norwegian: Bokmål: nydelig (no), enestående Nynorsk: nydeleg, eneståande Slovak: krásny Ukrainian: бездога́нний (uk) (bezdohánnyj), прекра́сний (prekrásnyj)

as a pro-sentence

German: toll (de) Malay: cantik (ms) Spanish: bravo (es)

ironic: how unfortunate

Finnish: loistava (fi) German: toll (de), schön (de) Hungarian: szép (hu) Macedonian: убав (ubav) Malay: cantik (ms)

Noun

beautiful (plural beautifuls)

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

   The man was faithful to his wife, ignoring the many blonde beautifuls who surrounded him wherever he went.

   Hey, beautiful!