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Can beautiful be used to describe a man?
Our evidence shows that when beautiful is used to describe physical beauty, it is overwhelming used of women or a physical aspect of a woman (such as her hair or skin). This hasn't always been the case: when beautiful first came into English it was used as easily of men as it was of women. Nowadays, handsome is the adjective of appreciation most commonly used of men.
The plural noun phrase beautiful people doesn't refer to the overall looks of the people mentioned, but rather the elegance and sumptuousness of their lives.
Synonyms
beautiful, lovely, handsome, pretty, comely, fair mean exciting sensuous or aesthetic pleasure.
beautiful applies to whatever excites the keenest of pleasure to the senses and stirs emotion through the senses.
lovely is close to beautiful but applies to a narrower range of emotional excitation in suggesting the graceful, delicate, or exquisite.
handsome suggests aesthetic pleasure due to proportion, symmetry, or elegance.
pretty often applies to superficial or insubstantial attractiveness.
fair suggests beauty because of purity, flawlessness, or freshness.
Examples of beautiful in a Sentence
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'beautiful.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Middle English bewteful, beautefull, from beaute beauty + -ful, -full -ful entry 1
15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Phrases Containing beautiful
Dictionary Entries Near beautiful
Cite this Entry
“Beautiful.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/beautiful. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.
Kids Definition
beautiful
adjectiveMore from Merriam-Webster on beautiful
Nglish: Translation of beautiful for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of beautiful for Arabic Speakers
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