Definition of beautiful

–adjective

1.	having beauty; having qualities that give great pleasure or satisfaction to see, hear, think about, etc.; delighting the senses or mind: a beautiful dress; a beautiful speech.

2.	excellent of its kind: a beautiful putt on the seventh hole; The chef served us a beautiful roast of beef.

3.	wonderful; very pleasing or satisfying.

–noun

4.	the concept of beauty (usually prec. by the).

5.	(used with a plural verb) beautiful things or people collectively (usually prec. by the): the good and the beautiful.

6.	the ideal of beauty (usually prec. by the): to strive to attain the beautiful.

–interjection

7.	wonderful; fantastic: You got two front-row seats? Beautiful!

8.	extraordinary; incredible: used ironically: Your car broke down in the middle of the freeway? Beautiful!

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[Origin: 1520–30; beauty + -ful]

—Related forms

beau·ti·ful·ly, adverb

beau·ti·ful·ness, noun

—Synonyms 1. comely, seemly, attractive, fair, beauteous. Beautiful, handsome, lovely, pretty refer to a pleasing appearance. A person or thing that is beautiful has perfection of form, color, etc., or noble and spiritual qualities: a beautiful landscape, a beautiful woman. Handsome often implies stateliness or pleasing proportion and symmetry: a handsome man. That which is lovely is beautiful but in a warm and endearing way: a lovely smile. Pretty implies a moderate but noticeable beauty, esp. in that which is small or of minor importance: a pretty child.

—Antonyms 1. ugly.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

beau·ti·ful (byōō'tə-fəl) Pronunciation Key adj. Having qualities that delight the senses, especially the sense of sight. Excellent; wonderful. beau'ti·ful·ly adv., beau'ti·ful·ness n. Synonyms: All these adjectives apply to what excites aesthetic admiration. Beautiful is most comprehensive: a beautiful child; a beautiful painting; a beautiful mathematical proof. Lovely applies to what inspires emotion rather than intellectual appreciation: "They were lovely, your eyes" (George Seferis). What is pretty is beautiful in a delicate or graceful way: a pretty face; a pretty song; a pretty room. Handsome stresses poise and dignity of form and proportion: a very large, handsome paneled library. "She is very pretty, but not so extraordinarily handsome" (William Makepeace Thackeray). Comely suggests wholesome physical attractiveness: "Mrs. Hurd is a large woman with a big, comely, simple face" (Ernest Hemingway). Fair emphasizes freshness or purity: "In the highlands, in the country places,/Where the old plain men have rosy faces,/And the young fair maidens/Quiet eyes" (Robert Louis Stevenson).

beautiful
adjective
1.	delighting the senses or exciting intellectual or emotional admiration; "a beautiful child"; "beautiful country"; "a beautiful painting"; "a beautiful theory"; "a beautiful party" [ant: ugly]
2.	(of weather) highly enjoyable; "what a beautiful day"

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.

Beautiful
Beau"ti*ful\, a. Having the qualities which constitute beauty; pleasing to the sight or the mind. A circle is more beautiful than a square; a square is more beautiful than a parallelogram. --Lord Kames. Syn: Handsome; elegant; lovely; fair; charming; graceful; pretty; delightful. See Fine. -- Beau"ti*ful*ly, adv. -- Beau"ti*ful*ness, n.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.

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