Did you know?
Can beautiful be used to describe a man?
Our evidence shows that when beautiful is used to describe physical beauty, it is overwhelming used of women or a physical aspect of a woman (such as her hair or skin). This hasn't always been the case: when beautiful first came into English it was used as easily of men as it was of women. Nowadays, handsome is the adjective of appreciation most commonly used of men.
The plural noun phrase beautiful people doesn't refer to the overall looks of the people mentioned, but rather the elegance and sumptuousness of their lives.
Examples of beautiful in a Sentence
Tim Fish, Wine Spectator, 15 Nov. 2008
In her biography of Monroe, Churchwell takes to task the relentless mythomania of her admirers and critics, who are equally invested in nurturing the legend of a hapless beautiful woman consumed by her desire for celebrity and love.
—Lakshmi Chaudhry, Nation, 27 Aug.-3 Sept. 2007
In the hothouse of today's celebrity monoculture, the result has been the perfection of the kind of profile in which athletes and actors struggle to overcome … absence or presence in their lives of money, fame, sex and drugs. Especially so in the upscale slicks, where these stories of the rich and beautiful emerge so flat and lifeless that no one in them casts a shadow.
—Jeff MacGregor, New York Times Book Review, 21 Aug. 2005
You have the most beautiful smile.
The film tells a beautiful story about two young lovers.
Our hotel room had a beautiful view of the ocean.
The sunsets here are absolutely beautiful.
What a beautiful day for a picnic!
This is a beautiful example of early American poetry.
Claire Hoppe Norgaard, Better Homes & Gardens, 17 Sep. 2025
The beautiful and colorful opening sequence of The Grand Finale takes us across the London streets and into a West End theatre, where the family is watching Coward’s operata, Bitter Sweet.
—Maelle Beauget-Uhl, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
And there in front of us on a platform were these beautiful women in crisp uniforms with makeup and lipstick and blonde, long hair and these SS men, young men, strong and well fed…laughing…having a great time.
—Literary Hub, 17 Sep. 2025
These children, as a result, may have a much clearer idea of what happens when one of those missiles—which looked almost beautiful, white trails of smoke against a black sky—actually hits its target.
—Jay Caspian Kang, New Yorker, 17 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for beautiful
Cite this Entry
“Beautiful.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/beautiful. Accessed 19 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
beautiful
adjective
Share