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a handsome face
an attractive face
a pleasing face
a lovely face
a fine face
a pretty face
a handsome profit
a hefty profit
a lovely profit
a generous profit
a healthy profit
a tidy profit
a handsome book
an attractive book
a beautiful book
a gorgeous book
an elegant book
an exquisite book

Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective handsome differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of handsome are beautiful, comely, fair, lovely, and pretty. While all these words mean "exciting sensuous or aesthetic pleasure," handsome suggests aesthetic pleasure due to proportion, symmetry, or elegance.

a handsome Georgian mansion

When is it sensible to use beautiful instead of handsome?

While the synonyms beautiful and handsome are close in meaning, 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?

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

the comely grace of a dancer

When could fair be used to replace handsome?

The synonyms fair and handsome are sometimes interchangeable, but fair suggests beauty because of purity, flawlessness, or freshness.

fair of face

How do lovely and beautiful relate to one another, in the sense of handsome?

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

a lovely melody

When would pretty be a good substitute for handsome?

The words pretty and handsome 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 handsome Its handsome exterior and modern-tech interior give it a chance. James Raia, Mercury News, 9 June 2025 With his goofy personality and heart full of love, this adorable boy is a handsome, gentle giant. Maryanne Dell, Oc Register, 7 June 2025 Peggy meets a handsome doctor from Newport whose family is less than enthusiastic about her career. Samantha Bergeson, IndieWire, 3 June 2025 Here the handsome yellow and gray Palazzo del Capitolo building is close to Jana’s Café, where tank topped and tattooed visitors sipped rather than chugged espressos. Tom Mullen, Forbes.com, 1 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for handsome
Recent Examples of Synonyms for handsome
Adjective
  • Simulating data poisoning, rare clinical conditions and system failures, then automating rollback triggers, ensures graceful degradation.
    Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 17 June 2025
  • Audiences expect costume epics to be beautiful and kinetic – flying swords, graceful choreography.
    Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 17 June 2025
Adjective
  • Never mind that the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union was the largest women’s organization in the U.S. and provided public speaking opportunities for women at a time this was almost unheard of.
    Alice Burton, Vulture, 23 June 2025
  • Over the past 10 years, the number of renters aged 65 and older has surged by nearly 30 percent, adding 2.4 million senior renters across the country—by far the largest growth of any age group, according to new research conducted by Point2Homes.
    Aliss Higham, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 June 2025
Adjective
  • This wine estate is located up a beautiful valley west of, and perpendicular to, the axis of the hills that form the Côte d’Or.
    Tom Mullen, Forbes.com, 15 June 2025
  • When the competitions began in the 1990s, judges awarded points for things like beautiful architecture and keeping costs low.
    Ryan Kellman, NPR, 15 June 2025
Adjective
  • Here’s a thought: Several big-time football schools have abandoned open spring football games, which used to be a sizable event attracting fans and alums to campus, to protect players from being scouted and poached in the transfer portal.
    Russell Dinkins, Sportico.com, 10 June 2025
  • But there’s a sizable contingent of old media players including David Zaslav, fresh from announcing plans to split Warner Bros. Discovery in two, as well as Comcast’s Brian Roberts, who is already enmeshed in spinning off his own underperforming cable properties at NBCUniversal.
    Matt Donnelly, Variety, 10 June 2025
Adjective
  • House hunters are even willing to pay up to about $1,600 more for a kitchen with cabinets in the elegant green tone, according to Zillow's analysis.
    Anne Marie D. Lee, CBS News, 18 June 2025
  • Refined, elegant food, intelligent service, and a warm living-room-like ambiance make this one of Rome’s top upscale restaurants.
    Katie Kelly Bell, Forbes.com, 18 June 2025
Adjective
  • The Leafs’ time is now — and there aren’t many, if any, free agents out there who check as many potential boxes as Marchand, nor are there many trades, given the team’s limited pool of assets, that make substantial upgrades elsewhere on the roster possible.
    Jonas Siegel, New York Times, 19 June 2025
  • When companies do it though, there is a substantial pay off, said Blake Moret, the chairman and CEO at Rockwell Automation.
    Jennifer Castenson, Forbes.com, 19 June 2025
Adjective
  • Robert, who turns 28 on Aug. 3, is somewhat more attractive, a plus defender in center who has stolen 21 bases in 26 attempts.
    Ken Rosenthal, New York Times, 20 June 2025
  • Grocery stores operate on the thinnest of margins and chic or attractive has nothing to do with marketing commodities like eggs and bread.
    Greg Petro, Forbes.com, 19 June 2025
Adjective
  • In May, the board of supervisors unanimously backed recommendations from county staff to move the excess money around, with a considerable amount going to the Sheriff’s Office.
    Lucas Robinson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 June 2025
  • Now, terming him a sweetener might be overstatement, after a considerable sophomore slump.
    Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 14 June 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Handsome.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/handsome. Accessed 26 Jun. 2025.

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