lovely

adjective

love·ly | \ ˈləv-lē

lovelier; loveliest

Definition of lovely

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 obsolete : lovable

2 : delightful for beauty, harmony, or grace : attractive She looks lovely in that dress.

3 : grand, swell what a lovely morning

4 : eliciting love by moral or ideal worth A lovely woman who loves him for himself, not for his money.

lovely

noun

plural lovelies

Definition of lovely (Entry 2 of 2)

1 : a beautiful woman

2 : a lovely object

Other Words from lovely Synonyms & Antonyms Choose the Right Synonym More Example Sentences Learn More about lovely

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Choose the Right Synonym for lovely

Adjective

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. beautiful mountain scenery lovely is close to beautiful but applies to a narrower range of emotional excitation in suggesting the graceful, delicate, or exquisite. a lovely melody handsome suggests aesthetic pleasure due to proportion, symmetry, or elegance. a handsome Georgian mansion pretty often applies to superficial or insubstantial attractiveness. a painter of conventionally pretty scenes comely is like handsome in suggesting what is coolly approved rather than emotionally responded to. the comely grace of a dancer fair suggests beauty because of purity, flawlessness, or freshness. fair of face

Examples of lovely in a Sentence

Adjective

She was wearing a lovely dress. a lovely bouquet of flowers The song has a lovely melody. The hotel has a lovely view. We enjoyed a lovely dinner. a singer with a lovely voice Their children have lovely manners. How lovely of you to come! It was lovely to have you here!

Noun

A chorus line of young lovelies danced on the stage.

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective

And there is something lovely and amazing about that. — CBS News, "Transcript: Sue Gordon talks with Michael Morell on "Intelligence Matters"," 17 July 2019 Women and men can definitely have lovely and fulfilling friendships without flirting. — Amy Dickinson, The Denver Post, "Ask Amy: Parents want boyfriend to go, daughter follows," 25 June 2019 Women and men can definitely have lovely and fulfilling friendships without flirting. — Ask Amy, oregonlive.com, "Ask Amy: Married woman wants to know if it’s OK to flirt -- but online only," 25 June 2019 This is nothing personal against the Scandinavian nation, which is lovely. — Nancy Armour, USA TODAY, "Opinion: Nothing against Sweden, but World Cup final deserves a fresher matchup," 3 July 2019 Co-directed by Augustine, Rassmus Bjornson, and David Sahlberg, the clip follows a lovely (if slightly cynical) love story, told through a cinematic, Wes Anderson-esque lens. — Kirsten Spruch, Billboard, "Augustine's 'Wishful Thinking' Video Tells a Beautiful and Tragic Love Story: Exclusive," 26 June 2019 On that station, the anchor, another lovely lady, was reading a local news story. — Bulletin Board, Twin Cities, "Sunday Bulletin Board: It had been a bear of a day . . . and then a bear showed up!," 23 June 2019 Soil is moist, heavily mulched, and lovely with earthworms, but does get considerable water in winter (on a slope). — oregonlive.com, "Am I watering my new arborvitae correctly? Ask an Expert," 15 June 2019 Terrence McNally’s Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune is sweet and lovely, and turns out to be durable. — Kyle Smith, National Review, "An Anti–Me Too Play — from a Surprising Perspective, and from the 1980s," 7 June 2019

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

Here are some of the lovelies that were arrested recently -- the Berkeley deal. — Fox News, "Ingraham: Far-left billionaires uniting to remake America," 29 Aug. 2018 Scott Rubin was asked to write jokes for National Lampoon’s Strip Poker, a witless pay-per-view series featuring Kaelin and a group of lovelies (including Olivia Munn, then known as Lisa) at the Hedonism II nudist resort in Jamaica. — Benjamin Wallace, HWD, "Can Anyone Repair National Lampoon’s Devastated Brand?," 1 May 2017 The Observer resolved then and there to award these two lovelies his first Mellow MoonPie award, for grit and glimmer in the face of death. — The Masked Observer, AL.com, "The Masked Observer discovers a lot of Eastern Shore energy with the Pierrettes," 31 Jan. 2018 Of these desirable lovelies, only Mabel (who is also played by the gamely resourceful Omar) opens her heart to poor forlorn Freddy. — Charles Mcnulty, latimes.com, "'Pirates of Penzance,' with a piña colada: Gilbert & Sullivan plays as interactive party," 26 Jan. 2018 Its Instagram feed for its men’s line, for example, which has more than 855,000 followers, is a cornucopia of F.O.M.O.-inducing shots of stylish young lovelies cavorting in exotic locales wearing cool watches. — Alex Williams, New York Times, "A Watch Brand by and for Millennials," 30 Oct. 2017 Lunch or dinner isn’t complete without a stop at the pretty-as-a-picture pastry case, with lovelies like chocolate caramel tartlets lined up inside. — Carol Deptolla, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "The Milwaukee 50, with Milwaukee's Top 30 restaurants, ranked," 15 Sep. 2017 Scott Rubin was asked to write jokes for National Lampoon’s Strip Poker, a witless pay-per-view series featuring Kaelin and a group of lovelies (including Olivia Munn, then known as Lisa) at the Hedonism II nudist resort in Jamaica. — Benjamin Wallace, HWD, "Can Anyone Repair National Lampoon’s Devastated Brand?," 19 May 2017 Instead of Britain’s Marmite and baked bean lovelies, Vegemite and mashed avocado became favored spreads Down Under. — John Birdsall, Bon Appetit, "Why Are We Still Talking About Avocado Toast?," 19 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'lovely.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.