embellish

verb

em·​bel·​lish im-ˈbe-lish 

embellished; embellishing; embellishes

transitive verb

1

: to make beautiful with ornamentation : decorate

a book embellished with illustrations

2

: to heighten the attractiveness of by adding decorative or fanciful details : enhance

embellished our account of the trip

embellisher noun

Did you know?

Embellish is related to the French word for "beautiful," bel, and, traditionally, it has been used to imply beautifying an object with the addition of things unessential. That's still true; however, it is equally appealing as an adjective for making statements or stories sound more entertaining.

Synonyms

• exaggerate
• enhance
• pad

Choose the Right Synonym for embellish

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 embellish in a Sentence

a book embellished with colorful illustrations

He embellished his speech with a few quotations.

Recent Examples on the Web

Oakland artist Demetri Broxton (b. 1979) honors him and his family at Fort Point through dazzling beaded portraits, embellished with cowrie shells of a type once used for protection by the Yoruba people of Nigeria and for the purchase of humans during the Transatlantic Slave Trade. —Chadd Scott, Forbes.com, 22 June 2025

Back at the island, Spike is welcomed as the returning hero, with Jamie significantly, and drunkenly, embellishing his son’s bravery. —Damon Wise, Deadline, 18 June 2025

Most of the styles are embellished with big or minimalist bows. —Andrea Onate, Footwear News, 17 June 2025

The vocals are airy, haughtily enunciated in the high hippie style, and embellished with happy trills; the melody chugs along with a nursery-rhyme simplicity that is somehow underwired by knowingness: innocence and experience conjoined. —James Parker, The Atlantic, 12 June 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Anglo-French embeliss-, stem of embelir, from en- + bel beautiful — more at beauty

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for embellish

• hellish
• relish

Kids Definition

embellish

verb

em·​bel·​lish im-ˈbel-ish 

: to make beautiful with ornamentation : decorate

a book embellished with pictures

embellishment

-mənt

noun