lovely 和 cute 在用法和词义上有哪些区别？

The difference is "cute" is more about appearance and "lovely" can be used to describe something pleasing or satisfying things or situations as well.

Cute

• sweet, attractive, but not necessarily in a sexual way (to me, not beautiful)
• often used to describe children and young animals
• often used to describe small things

Examples:

• Oh, your cat is so cute!
• I love babies; they're so cute!
• He has a cute nose!

Lovely

• beautiful, attractive
• can be used to describe the whole person rather than just appearance
• can be used to describe a situation that is pleasant or enjoyable

Examples:

• I had a lovely evening with you!
• The weather is lovely today!
• That's a lovely dress!

Sentences where they can both be used:

• She's so cute! (She is probably a child)
• She's so lovely! (She is probably over 20 or she could be a child with a nice personality and appearance)
• Your apartment looks lovely! (Well-decorated in a mature way)
• Your apartment is so cute! (Small and pretty)

I know it's common in China to call females of almost any age "cute" or "可爱", but in many Western countries, it's weird to call a woman cute after about 20.

I hope this is helpful.

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从使用范围上说，cute一般只用于形容人和动物，lovely还可以用于别的东西，比如a lovely house, lovely weather。

从意义上说，在形容人和动物时，lovely是一般的“可爱”，cute则主要指“萌”。

用cute来形容人，会有一种“幼稚”的弦外之音，因此并不是所有人都喜欢别人称赞自己cute。

在使用cute的时候要注意分寸，可惜我自己也把握不准。