beautiful adjective - Definition, pictures, pronunciation and usage notes | Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary at OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com

Definition of beautiful adjective from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

beautiful

adjective
 
 
/ˈbjuːtɪfl/
 
/ˈbjuːtɪfl/
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  1.  
     having beauty; giving pleasure to the senses or to the mind
    • a beautiful woman/girl
    • What a beautiful day!
    • a beautiful face/baby/voice/garden/beach
    • beautiful countryside/weather/music
    • She looked stunningly beautiful that night.
    • The scenery here is so beautiful.
    • What a beautiful thing to say!
    Synonyms beautifulbeautifulpretty ▪ handsome ▪ attractive ▪ lovely ▪ good-looking ▪ gorgeousThese words all describe people who are pleasant to look at.beautiful (most often used of a woman or girl) very pleasant to look at:
    • She looked stunningly beautiful that night.
    pretty (most often used of a girl or woman) pleasant to look at:
    • She’s got a very pretty face.
    Pretty is used most often to talk about girls. When it is used to talk about a woman, it usually suggests that she is like a girl, with small, delicate features.    handsome (of a man) pleasant to look at; (of a woman) pleasant to look at, with large strong features rather than small delicate ones:
    • He was described as ‘tall, dark and handsome’.
    attractive (of a person) pleasant to look at, especially in a sexual way:
    • She’s a very attractive woman.
    lovely (of a person) beautiful; very attractive:
    • She looked particularly lovely that night.
    When you describe somebody as lovely, you are usually showing that you also like them very much.    good-looking (of a person) pleasant to look at, often in a sexual way:
    • She arrived with a very good-looking man.
    gorgeous (informal) (of a person) extremely attractive, especially in a sexual way:
    • You look gorgeous!
     attractive or good-looking?If you describe somebody as attractive you often also mean that they have a pleasant personality as well as being pleasant to look at; good-looking only describes somebody’s physical appearance.Patterns
    • a(n) beautiful/​pretty/​handsome/​attractive/​lovely/​good-looking/​gorgeous girl/​woman
    • a(n) beautiful/​handsome/​attractive/​good-looking/​gorgeous boy/​man
    • a(n) beautiful/​pretty/​handsome/​attractive/​lovely/​good-looking face
    Extra Examples
    • I remember her as pretty, almost beautiful.
    • She was never considered beautiful at school.
    • She didn't need make-up. She was naturally beautiful.
    • He found her exquisitely beautiful.
    • As a young actor he was such a beautiful boy.
    • She had a classically beautiful face.
    • Her features were classically beautiful, with perfectly structured high cheekbones.
    • What a beautiful baby!
    • We sat and listened to the beautiful music.
    • It was a hauntingly beautiful melody.
    • ‘They're just beautiful,’ breathed Jo, when she saw the earrings.
    • The designs were pure, austere and coldly beautiful.
    • We did all we could to make the room beautiful.
    Topics Appearancea1
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs
    • be
    • feel
    • look
    • …
    adverb
    • extremely
    • fairly
    • very
    • …
    See full entry
  2. very good; very kind or showing great skill
    • Thank you—you have done a beautiful thing.
    • What beautiful timing!
See beautiful in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee beautiful in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
Check pronunciation: beautiful

Nearby words

era
noun
 
 
From the Topic
History
B2
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