beautify

verb

beau·​ti·​fy ˈbyü-tə-ˌfī 

beautified; beautifying

transitive verb

: to make beautiful or add beauty to

intransitive verb

: to grow beautiful

beautification

ˌbyü-tə-fə-ˈkā-shən 

noun

beautifier

ˈbyü-tə-ˌfī(-ə)r 

noun

Synonyms

• adorn
• array
• bedeck
• bedizen
• blazon
• caparison
• deck
• decorate
• do
• do up
• doll up
• drape
• dress
• embellish
• emblaze
• emboss
• enrich
• fancify
• fancy up
• festoon
• garnish
• glitz (up)
• grace
• gussy up
• ornament
• pretty (up)
• trim

Choose the Right Synonym for beautify

adorn, decorate, ornament, embellish, beautify, deck, garnish mean to enhance the appearance of something by adding something unessential.

adorn implies an enhancing by something beautiful in itself.

a diamond necklace adorned her neck

decorate suggests relieving plainness or monotony by adding beauty of color or design.

decorate a birthday cake

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

, embellish often stressing the adding of superfluous or adventitious ornament.

embellish a page with floral borders

beautify adds to embellish a suggestion of counterbalancing plainness or ugliness.

will beautify the grounds with flower beds

deck implies the addition of something that contributes to gaiety, splendor, or showiness.

a house all decked out for Christmas

garnish suggests decorating with a small final touch and is used especially in referring to the serving of food.

an entrée garnished with parsley

Examples of beautify in a Sentence

Fresh flowers beautify every room.

volunteers beautified the roadside landscape by planting flowers

Recent Examples on the Web

What a wonderful journey awaits any San Diegan who wants to design a garden to beautify the campus of a church, synagogue or mosque, tying their faith to modern plants that echo a hallowed past. —The San Diego Union Tribune, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Apr. 2025

Grenell, who spent the Biden years developing luxury tourist sites in Serbia and Albania, suggested at a recent meeting that Trump’s plans to beautify the center were advancing; a proposal was under way to refurbish the lounges in front of the main theatres. —Katy Waldman, New Yorker, 8 Apr. 2025

Most of the 2nd Ave mural funding came from Clean California, a $1.2 billion effort led by Caltrans to beautify public spaces near freeways across California. —Joe Rubin, Sacramento Bee, 13 Mar. 2025

The group has beautified the beach since 1964. —Phillip Valys, Sun Sentinel, 21 Mar. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English bewtyfien, from beaute beauty + -fien -fy

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Rhymes for beautify

• acidify
• alveoli
• areolae
• demystify
• detoxify
• disqualify
• diversify
• electrify
• exemplify
• fasciculi
• identify
• indemnify

Kids Definition

beautify

verb

beau·​ti·​fy ˈbyüt-ə-ˌfī 

beautified; beautifying

: to make beautiful or more beautiful

beautification

ˌbyüt-ə-fə-ˈkā-shən 

noun