Synonym Chooser

How is the word beautify different from other verbs like it?

Some common synonyms of beautify are adorn, deck, decorate, embellish, garnish, and ornament. While all these words mean "to enhance the appearance of something by adding something unessential," beautify adds to embellish a suggestion of counterbalancing plainness or ugliness.

will beautify the grounds with flower beds

Where would adorn be a reasonable alternative to beautify?

Although the words adorn and beautify have much in common, adorn implies an enhancing by something beautiful in itself.

a diamond necklace adorned her neck

When is deck a more appropriate choice than beautify?

In some situations, the words deck and beautify are roughly equivalent. However, deck implies the addition of something that contributes to gaiety, splendor, or showiness.

a house all decked out for Christmas

When could decorate be used to replace beautify?

The synonyms decorate and beautify are sometimes interchangeable, but decorate suggests relieving plainness or monotony by adding beauty of color or design.

decorate a birthday cake

When is it sensible to use embellish instead of beautify?

The meanings of embellish and beautify largely overlap; however, embellish often stresses the adding of superfluous or adventitious ornament.

embellish a page with floral borders

When can garnish be used instead of beautify?

While in some cases nearly identical to beautify, garnish suggests decorating with a small final touch and is used especially in referring to the serving of food.

an entrée garnished with parsley

How do ornament and embellish relate to one another, in the sense of beautify?

Both ornament and embellish imply the adding of something extraneous, ornament stressing the heightening or setting off of the original.

a white house ornamented with green shutters

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of beautify Sudhir has also worked to beautify local schools and helped organize local creek cleanups. Anne Gelhaus, Mercury News, 27 Apr. 2025 Seeking to beautify your tablescape for Easter or Mother’s Day brunch? Stacia Datskovska, WWD, 17 Mar. 2025 Brown mascara, on the contrary, still enhances and beautifies the lashes but with a softer shade that is complimentary to all. Alicia Geigel, Southern Living, 5 Mar. 2025 Long before the shuttlecocks landed at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art — and before, even, Henry Moore’s sculptures beautified its lawn — another Kansas City park, for a brief two weeks, captured the eyes of art lovers worldwide. Eric Adler, Kansas City Star, 8 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for beautify
Recent Examples of Synonyms for beautify
Verb
  • Amazon Basics Fluted Ceramic Round Planter This early Prime Day deal is perfect for decorating your outdoor table with lush greenery and flowers.
    Caley Sturgill, Southern Living, 5 July 2025
  • His striking work, Protest, depicts the bloodshed of Sri Lanka’s long civil war, using books that are charred or rendered illegible, often decorated with symbolic or figurative objects, like toy-soldier figurines marching across a soiled page.
    Thessaly La Force, Travel + Leisure, 4 July 2025
Verb
  • The pop-up, located on the ground floor, will offer several customization services, where clients can choose to have accessories adorned with lucky symbols such as stars, bees and shamrocks.
    Samantha Conti, Footwear News, 1 July 2025
  • Roth will spend the next week rehearsing, but has arrived at our meeting dressed très chic in a Dries Van Noten ivory top with sculptural pleating, a black straight skirt and pointed heels from Saint Laurent, and a small bag adorned with a Claude Lalanne bronze flower.
    Amy Verner, Vogue, 1 July 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Beautify.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/beautify. Accessed 11 Jul. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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