beau ‧ ti ‧ ful S1 W2 /ˈbjuːtəf ə l, ˈbjuːtɪf ə l/ BrE AmE adjective
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ beautician , ↑ beauty ; adverb : ↑ beautifully ; adjective : ↑ beautiful ]
1 . someone or something that is beautiful is extremely attractive to look at:
She was even more beautiful than I had remembered.
a beautiful bunch of flowers
2 . very good or giving you great pleasure SYN lovely :
beautiful music
What a beautiful shot!
The weather was beautiful.
—beautifully adverb
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THESAURUS
■ person
▪ beautiful a beautiful woman or child has perfect good looks:
Grace Kelly was a very beautiful woman.
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a beautiful baby
▪ good-looking a good-looking person looks nice. Good-looking is very common in spoken English:
He’s a good-looking guy, but he’s a bit boring.
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Do you think she’s good-looking?
▪ attractive an attractive person looks nice, especially in a way that makes you feel sexually interested in them:
She’s a very attractive woman.
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A lot of women find him attractive.
▪ pretty a pretty girl or woman looks nice – used especially about a woman who has a nice face:
You look pretty with your hair down.
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She has a very pretty face.
▪ handsome a handsome man or boy looks nice – used especially about a man who has a nice face. Handsome is also sometimes used, especially in literature, to describe a woman who is good-looking and has a strong face:
He was tall, dark, and handsome.
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She was a big, handsome woman.
▪ gorgeous/stunning spoken extremely attractive. Gorgeous is used especially by women:
She thinks Brad Pitt is gorgeous.
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You look absolutely stunning in that dress!
▪ cute spoken nice to look at – used about animals, babies, children, and young adults:
a cute little puppy
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She thinks you’re cute!
▪ lovely especially British English spoken used when saying that someone looks very nice:
You look lovely tonight.
■ place/thing etc
▪ beautiful used to describe something that looks, feels, sounds etc so good that it gives you a lot of pleasure:
a beautiful tropical beach
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a beautiful song
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The weather was beautiful.
▪ lovely especially British English spoken used when saying that something looks, feels, or sounds very nice:
What a lovely day!
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a lovely voice
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a lovely perfume
▪ pretty pleasant to look at – often used about things that are not big or impressive:
a pretty little pink dress
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a pretty village
▪ attractive pleasant to look at. Attractive sounds more formal than pretty :
an attractive white-painted cottage with green shutters
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an attractive city
▪ magnificent very big, beautiful, and impressive – used about buildings, objects, and views:
The Taj Mahal always looks magnificent.
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a magnificent Persian carpet
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There were magnificent views over the old city.
▪ picturesque written pleasant to look at – used in written descriptions of towns, buildings, and places:
the picturesque harbour town of Castleton
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Regensburg Cathedral occupies a picturesque position on the River Danube in Bavaria.
▪ stunning/breathtaking extremely beautiful and impressive – used especially about views:
All around is a stunning view of Cape Town.
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The landscape is breathtaking.
▪ exquisite /ɪkˈskwɪzət, ɪkˈskwɪzɪt, ˈekskwɪ-/ used to describe things that have very beautiful small details, especially things that have been made with a lot of skill:
an exquisite piece of jewellery
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an exquisite flower
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an exquisite picture of a bird of paradise
▪ elegant designed in a way that looks very attractive and has a lot of style:
an elegant Neo-Classical building
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a long and elegant staircase