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Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective beautiful differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of beautiful are comely, fair, handsome, lovely, and pretty. While all these words 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

How are the words comely and handsome related as synonyms of beautiful?

Comely is like handsome in suggesting what is coolly approved rather than emotionally responded to.

the comely grace of a dancer

When can fair be used instead of beautiful?

The words fair and beautiful are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, fair suggests beauty because of purity, flawlessness, or freshness.

fair of face

When could handsome be used to replace beautiful?

While in some cases nearly identical to beautiful, handsome suggests aesthetic pleasure due to proportion, symmetry, or elegance.

a handsome Georgian mansion

How do lovely and beautiful relate to one another?

Lovely is close to beautiful but applies to a narrower range of emotional excitation in suggesting the graceful, delicate, or exquisite.

a lovely melody

In what contexts can pretty take the place of beautiful?

The words pretty and beautiful can be used in similar contexts, but pretty often applies to superficial or insubstantial attractiveness.

a painter of conventionally pretty scenes

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 beautiful And its parks aren’t just filled with beautiful landscapes and long hiking trails. Cat Sposato, Travel + Leisure, 4 Nov. 2025 The Ramona Sentinel wants to share your photos of the community’s beautiful scenery, residents and animals. Ramona Sentinel, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Nov. 2025 This year we were really blessed to do really high budget, beautiful commercials. Brian Welk, IndieWire, 4 Nov. 2025 To @arrri_b for the beautiful hand drawn friggin T shirts! Gabrielle Rockson, PEOPLE, 4 Nov. 2025 See All Example Sentences for beautiful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for beautiful
Adjective
  • Music lovers should head to see the Bluegrass Band art piece in East Bend, and the square in Yadkinville featuring Carolina Pines is particularly lovely.
    Jennifer Prince, Southern Living, 7 Nov. 2025
  • In between performances, while the crew was breaking down and setting up on stage, there was a lovely MC keeping the crowd entertained.
    Katie Campione, Deadline, 6 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • The Christos honored their promise by gifting me with a wonderful collage in addition to my one-dollar paycheck.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 7 Nov. 2025
  • That scene was so incredibly awkward… and wonderful.
    Dalton Ross, Entertainment Weekly, 6 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • Blue-green foliage and a columnar habit make for a gorgeous specimen in tight spaces.
    Kim Toscano, Southern Living, 9 Nov. 2025
  • More than 70 years later, White Christmas still looks gorgeous, positively popping with berry reds, snowy whites, and minty greens.
    Randall Colburn, Entertainment Weekly, 8 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • Thus far, Arsenal’s excellent form has relegated the injuries to a subplot.
    James McNicholas, New York Times, 9 Nov. 2025
  • The carbon nanofiber provides mechanical stability, abundant pore channels, and excellent electrolyte wettability, while the cobalt sites catalyze the adsorption and conversion of polysulfides.
    Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 8 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • Fall travel season is here, and my suitcase is officially in its comfy-but-cute era.
    Chaise Sanders, Travel + Leisure, 8 Nov. 2025
  • Shoppers call out the cute and functional design.
    Kim Grundy, PEOPLE, 8 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • The guys are awesome; everybody’s been super welcoming.
    Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 7 Nov. 2025
  • And what Moana has represented is a really awesome global embrace of Polynesian culture, our values and our qualities and our pride and our mana.
    Scott Feinberg, HollywoodReporter, 6 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • His face, while not exactly handsome, nevertheless has a certain charisma to it, a monkey-like instinct for comedy.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 4 Nov. 2025
  • Who will free us from the handsome British issue drama?
    Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 4 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • Her clarion voice slices through the show’s labored attempts to be both fable and fabulous.
    Sara Holdren, Vulture, 10 Nov. 2025
  • Nordstrom’s epic fall sale is brimming with fabulous deals on breathable layers, packable outerwear, holiday-ready get-ups, cozy sweaters, and more.
    Sophie Dodd, Travel + Leisure, 7 Nov. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Beautiful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/beautiful. Accessed 11 Nov. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on beautiful

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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