beautiful

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *dewh₂-der.?

Proto-Italic *dwenos

Old Latin duenos

Old Latin duonusder.

Old Latin *duenelos

Vulgar Latin bellus

Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-ts

Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂ts

Proto-Italic *-tāts

Vulgar Latin -tās

Vulgar Latin *bellitātem

Anglo-Norman biautébor.

Middle English beaute

Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁-

Proto-Indo-European *-nós

Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₁nós

Proto-Germanic *fullaz

Proto-Germanic *-fullaz

Old English -ful

Middle English -ful

Middle English bewteful

English beautiful

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/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈbju.tɪ.fəl/, [bju.ɾə.fəl]

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: beau‧ti‧ful

Adjective

beautiful (comparative more beautiful, superlative most beautiful)

1. Possessing beauty, impressing the eye; attractive. [from 1520s]

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

   There's a beautiful lake by the town.

   • 1622, Michael Drayton, “The Sixe and Twentieth Song”, in The Second Part, or A Continuance of Poly-Olbion from the Eighteenth Song. […], London: […] Augustine Mathewes for Iohn Marriott, Iohn Grismand, and Thomas Dewe, →OCLC, page 124:

     [A]s amongſt the Moores, the Iettieſt blacke are deem'd / The beautifulſt of them; […]

   • 1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 214:

     “Is Olga de Coude very beautiful?” she asked. And Tarzan laughed and kissed her again. “Not one-tenth so beautiful as you, dear,” he said.

   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 5, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

     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)‎^[1]:

     It is a beautiful kitchen! — It is beautiful.

   1. Used emphatically or ironically, after the noun it qualifies. [from 1850s]

      the house beautiful

2. That one likes very much.

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

   You've done a beautiful thing today.

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

   Beethoven's most beautiful sonata

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

   These carnations smell beautiful but those daffodils smell funny.

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

   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

• (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

• all cats are beautiful
• beautiful armadillo
• beautiful fruit dove
• beautiful game
• beautifully
• beautiful music
• beautifulness
• beautiful people
• beautimous
• bee-utiful
• Bucyrus
• cuteful
• make beautiful music together
• nonbeautiful
• prettiful
• you have beautiful eyes

Related terms

• beauty
  • See also Thesaurus:beautiful woman

Translations

attractive — see also pretty,‎ lovely

• Afrikaans: mooi (af)
• Albanian: i bukur (sq)
• American Sign Language: 5@NearCheek-PalmBack RoundVert OpenA@NearJaw-PalmBack
• Amharic: ቆንጆ (ḳonǧo)
• Arabic: جَمِيل (ar) (jamīl), مَلِيح (malīḥ)

  Egyptian Arabic: جميل (gamīl)

  Moroccan Arabic: غزال m (ḡuzāl), جميل (jmīl), زوين m (zwīn)

  North Levantine Arabic: حِلُو, جَمِيْل m

• Aramaic: שפירא
• Armenian: գեղեցիկ (hy) (geġecʻik), սիրուն (hy) (sirun)
• Aromanian: mushat (roa-rup) m
• 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
• Bajau:

  West Coast Bajau: lawa'

• Bashkir: матур (matur)
• Basque: eder
• Belait: jie batien
• Belarusian: выда́тны (vydátny), прыго́жы (pryhóžy), харо́шы (xaróšy), красі́вы (krasívy), урадлі́вы (uradlívy), фа́йны (fájny)
• Bengali: সুন্দর (bn) (śundor), খুবসুরত (bn) (khubśurot), হাসিন (bn) (haśin)
• Bikol:

  Central Bikol: magayon (bcl)

• Breton: brav (br), kaer (br)
• Brunei Bisaya: bagak
• Bulgarian: краси́в (bg) (krasív), прекра́сен (bg) (prekrásen), ху́бав (bg) (húbav)
• 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)
• Chamicuro: pya'c̈homa, pewa puti'na
• Chechen: хаза (xaza)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 靚 / 靓 (leng³), 好睇 (hou² tai²) (object), 漂亮 (piu³ loeng⁶) (formal), 美麗 / 美丽 (mei⁵ lai⁶) (formal)

  Dungan: җүн (žün), җүн-ён (žün-i͡on), җиҗүн (žižün), җүнмый (žünmɨy)

  Eastern Min: 俊 (cóng), 漂亮 (piĕu-liông)

  Hokkien: 媠 (zh-min-nan) (súi), 美麗 / 美丽 (zh-min-nan) (bí-lē), 好看 (hó-khòaⁿ), 媠噹噹 / 媠当当 (zh-min-nan) (súi-tang-tang)

  Mandarin: 漂亮 (zh) (piàoliang), 美 (zh) (měi), 好看 (zh) (hǎokàn), 美麗 / 美丽 (zh) (měilì)

  Teochew: 雅 (ngia²)

  Wu: 漂亮, 好看 (⁵hau-khoe)

• Coptic: ⲛⲉⲥⲉ (nese)
• Cornish: teg
• Czech: krásný (cs), pěkný (cs), sličný (cs) (literary)
• Dalmatian: bial
• Danish: smuk (da)
• Dusun:

  Central Dusun: olumis

• 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
• Frisian:

  West Frisian: moai, kreas

• Friulian: biel m, biele f
• Galician: belo (gl), fermoso (gl)
• 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 Greek: καλός (kalós), ὡραῖος (hōraîos)

• Gujarati: સુંદર (sundar), રૂપાળું (rūpāḷũ), ખૂબસૂરત (gu) (khūbsūrat)
• Haitian Creole: bò
• Hawaiian: nani
• Hebrew: יָפֶה (he) m (yafé), יָפָה (he) f (yafá)
• Hindi: आकर्षक (hi) (ākarṣak), मोहक (hi) (mohak), मनोहर (hi) (manohar), सुन्दर (hi) (sundar), प्यारा (hi) (pyārā), ख़ूबसूरत (xūbsūrat), हसीन (hi) (hasīn)
• Hungarian: szép (hu), gyönyörű (hu)
• Hunsrik: scheen
• Icelandic: fallegur (is), fagur (is)
• Ido: bela (io)
• Igbo: oma
• Ilocano: napintas
• Indonesian: indah (id), cantik (id), ayu (id), molek (id), cakep (id)
• Ingrian: käppiä, see Thesaurus:käppiä
• 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)
• Javanese:

  Old Javanese: bĕcik

• Jingpho: tsawm
• Kabuverdianu: bunitu, benite
• Kadazan:

  Coastal Kadazan: olumis

• Kaitag: ччакко (ččakko), ттяттяй (ttəttəj)
• Kalmyk: сәәхн (sääxn)
• Kannada: ಸುಂದರ (kn) (sundara)
• Kapampangan: malagu
• Kazakh: әдемі (ädemı), әсем (äsem), сұлу (sūlu)
• Khanty:

  Northern Khanty: хурамӑӈ (huramăṇ) (Kazym)

• Khmer: ស្អាត (km) (sʼaat), ល្អ (km) (lʼɑɑ)
• Korean: 아름답다 (ko) (areumdapda), 예쁘다 (ko) (yeppeuda)
• Kunigami: 清ーらせん (すーらせん, sūrasen)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: جوان (ckb) (cwan), ئێسک سووک (ckb) (êsk sûk)

  Northern Kurdish: xweşik (ku), spehî (ku), ciwan (ku), rind (ku)

• Kyrgyz: сулуу (ky) (suluu), көркөм (ky) (körköm), кооз (ky) (kooz), сонун (ky) (sonun), чырайлуу (ky) (cırayluu), чырай жүздүү (ky) (cıray 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), ທີ່ສວຍງາມ (thīus nya ngām), ກັນລະຍາ (kan la nyā), ກັນລະຍານ (kan la nyān), ຄ່ອງ (khǭng)
• Latin: pulcher (la), fōrmōsus, bellus (la)
• Latvian: skaists (lv), daiļš, glīts
• Limburgish: sjoen (li)
• 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)

  Brunei Malay: bisai

• Malayalam: സുന്ദരം (ml) (sundaraṁ)
• Maltese: sabiħ
• Manchu: ᠰᠠᡳᡴᠠᠨ (saikan), ᡥᠣᠴᡳᡴᠣᠨ (hocikon)
• Manx: aalin, bwaagh, bwoyagh
• Māori: waiwaiā, pīwari (mi), hūmārie, hūmārire, purotu, rerehua, tau (mi), ātanga, ātaahua
• Marathi: सुंदर (sundar)
• Mazanderani: قشنگ, خجیر
• Middle English: beautevous, wynsom
• Mòcheno: schea'
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: сайхан (mn) (sajxan), гуа (mn) (gua), үзэсгэлэнтэй (üzesgelentej)

• Navajo: nizhóní, nizhóní yeeʼ
• Norman: bieau m, belle f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: vakker (no)

• Nǀuu: ǀxaquka, ǀhaqoka
• Occitan: bèl (oc) m, bèla (oc) f, bèu (oc) m

  Old Occitan: bel

• Odia: ସୁନ୍ଦର (sundara)
• Okinawan: 清らさん, 美らさん (ちゅらさん, churasan)
• Old Church Slavonic:

  Cyrillic: лѣпъ (lěpŭ), красьнъ (krasĭnŭ)

  Glagolitic: ⰾⱑⱂⱏ (lěpŭ)

• Old East Slavic: лѣпъ (lěpŭ), красьнъ (krasĭnŭ)
• Old English: fæġer, wlitiġ
• Old Norse: fagr
• Pangasinan: malimgas
• Pashto: ښکلی (ps) (ẍkwëlay), حسين (ps) (hasin), زيبا (ps) (zebā)
• Persian:

  Classical Persian: زیبَا (zēbā), قَشَنْگ (qašang)

  Dari: مَقْبُول (maqbūl), زیبَا (zēbā), قَشَنْگ (qašang)

  Iranian Persian: زیبا (fa) (zibâ), قَشَنْگ (ġašang), خوشْگِل (xošgel), خوش‌تیپ (xoš-tip) (handsome, of men)

• Plautdietsch: schmock, scheen
• Polish: piękny (pl) m, piękna f
• 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, mușat m
• Romansh: 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
• Scots: bonny
• Scottish Gaelic: àlainn, bòidheach, brèagha, fèilleil, grinn, maiseach, rìomhach, sgèimheach
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ле̑п, лије̑п, лип

  Latin: 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

• Spanish: hermoso (es), bello (es), guapo (es), bonito (es), fermoso, bel (es), bellido
• Sranan Tongo: moi
• Sudovian: grazi, skaista f
• Swahili: zuri (sw)
• Swedish: fin (sv), vacker (sv), skön (sv)
• Tagalog: maganda (tl)
• Tajik: зебо (tg) (zebo), хушрӯ (xušrü), қашанг (qašang)
• Talysh: ğəşəng, reçin, rəvoşin, xos, cıvon
• Tamil: அழகிய (ta) (aḻakiya)
• Tatar: матур (matur), гүзәл (tt) (güzäl)
• Telugu: అందమైన (te) (andamaina), చక్కని (te) (cakkani)
• Thai: สุนทร (th) (sǔn-tɔɔn), สวย (th) (sǔai), งาม (th) (ngaam)

  Northern Thai: please add this translation if you can

  Southern Thai: please add this translation if you can

• Tocharian B: kartse
• Tokunoshima: 清らさい (きゅらさい, kyurasai)
• Tswana: -ntle
• Turkish: güzel (tr)

  Ottoman Turkish: كوزل (güzel, gözel)

• Turkmen: görmegeý, gözel, gelşikli
• Tutong: lawa'
• Ukrainian: вродли́вий (vrodlývyj), краси́вий (uk) (krasývyj), га́рний (uk) (hárnyj), хоро́ший (xoróšyj), фа́йний (fájnyj), кра́сний (uk) (krásnyj)
• Urdu: خُوبْصُورَت (xūbsūrat), سُنْدَر (sundar), حَسِین (hasīn), پْیارا (pyārā), قَشَن٘گ (qaśaṅg), زیبا (zebā)
• Uyghur: گۈزەل (güzel)
• Uzbek: yoqimli (uz), goʻzal (uz)
• Venetan: 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), arddun
• Yiddish: שיין (sheyn)
• Zhuang: baenzsau, gacae, giengh

of weather: pleasant, clear — see also good

• Armenian: հաճելի (hy) (hačeli)
• Bulgarian: ху́бав (bg) (húbav)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 靚 / 靓 (leng³), 好天 (hou² tin¹)

  Hokkien: 好天 (zh-min-nan) (hó-thiⁿ)

  Mandarin: 好天 (zh) (hǎotiān)

• 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 (xoş), فێنک (ckb) (fênk)

• Limburgish: sjoen (li)
• Macedonian: убаво n (ubavo)
• Malay: indah (ms)
• Māori: paruhi
• Portuguese: limpo (pt)
• Russian: я́сный (ru) (jásnyj), прекра́сный (ru) (prekrásnyj)
• Slovak: pekný, krásny
• Spanish: despejado (es), alegre (es)
• Swedish: fin (sv), vacker (sv)
• Tamil: அழகிய (ta) (aḻakiya)
• Telugu: ఆహ్లాదకరమైన (āhlādakaramaina)
• Turkish:

  Ottoman Turkish: كوزل (güzel, gözel)

• Ukrainian: ясни́й (uk) (jasnýj)

impressing with charm in an intellectual or moral way

• 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
• Turkish:

  Ottoman Turkish: كوزل (güzel, gözel)

• Ukrainian: бездога́нний (uk) (bezdohánnyj), прекра́сний (prekrásnyj)

as a pro-sentence

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

used emphaticly or ironically

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

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.

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

   Hey, beautiful!