1
2

Try This Instead

For
Try This
a beautiful day
a perfect day
a gorgeous day
a nice day
a pretty day
beautiful music
elegant music
pleasant music
pretty music
lovely music
wonderful music
beautiful eyes
amazing eyes
pretty eyes
beautiful scenery
picturesque scenery
pristine scenery
spectacular scenery
breathtaking scenery
exquisite scenery
a beautiful baby
an adorable baby
a cute baby
a precious baby
a lovely baby
a gorgeous baby

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

Examples 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 Taylor Hill/FilmMagic—Getty Images Now 50 and a dad of four, Williams appears to view the only industry he’s ever known as both beautiful and beastly. Olivia-Anne Cleary, TIME, 10 Jan. 2025 Some of the elements that were part of the original Orient Express 140 years ago still ring true to today, to 2025 and beyond and is a combination of state-of-the-art engineering with beautiful, detailed craftsmanship and amazing service. Sofia Celeste, WWD, 10 Jan. 2025 The Alay are a breathtakingly beautiful sub-range of the Pamirs in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Sandra MacGregor, Forbes, 10 Jan. 2025 Like Japan’s ultra-exclusive and expensive Toyota 2000GT and Mazda Cosmo, the Nissan Fairlady Z (as it was officially sold in Japan) has a beautiful sports-car shape. Robert Ross, Robb Report, 10 Jan. 2025 See all Example Sentences for beautiful 
Recent Examples of Synonyms for beautiful
Adjective
  • The new Razer Blade 16 is looking to trim the fat from the last-gen model, going back to a thinner chassis that still offers plenty of ports and high-end specs like RTX 50-series GPU options, a lovely OLED display, and a switch to AMD CPUs (a first for the Blade 16).
    Antonio G. Di Benedetto, The Verge, 10 Jan. 2025
  • There’s a lovely bouquet upon sniffing, followed by a fine, long spreading of flavors on the palate and good herbal qualities.
    John Mariani, Forbes, 10 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • At 6-2, 202 pounds, Will Johnson has excellent size and length for a cornerback and would be a wonderful complement to Gardner.
    Antwan Staley, New York Daily News, 15 Jan. 2025
  • The property’s prime location is also close to the launch sites of the area’s famed hot air balloon rides, which are a wonderful way to take in the spectacular views of the otherworldly land formations.
    Sandra MacGregor, Forbes, 15 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • Taking in gorgeous winter sunsets snuggled under blankets.
    Miles Walls, Southern Living, 18 Jan. 2025
  • Your skin deserves the very best from head to toe: Now watch Madelyn Cline's gorgeous, glowy 10-Minute Beauty Routine: Don't forget to follow Allure on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok, or subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date on all things beauty.
    Allure, Allure, 17 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • Every business has setbacks, project cancellations, and external events that can sap the energy from your team members and override the benefits of even the best people management efforts, including personal recognition and communication, and excellent team collaboration.
    Martin Zwilling, Forbes, 12 Jan. 2025
  • Now is an excellent moment to be brave and explore new projects, people and plans.
    Kyle Thomas, People.com, 12 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • The kids were very cute & the crates were very broken.
    Tommy Tuberville, Newsweek, 8 Jan. 2025
  • In the coach’s fourth season, the Dolphins need to get less cute and tougher on the ground.
    Josh Kendall, The Athletic, 7 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • He’s been awesome this season and will be impossible to replace.
    Dom Luszczyszyn, The Athletic, 17 Jan. 2025
  • The waist still stays in place, and the bra is still awesome.
    Dana Leigh Smith, Glamour, 16 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • Boz goes on a date with her very handsome long-distance boyfriend, Keely.
    Brian Moylan, Vulture, 7 Jan. 2025
  • The heavy makeup that transformed the impossibly handsome Farrell into the scarred and pock-marked Cobb required a lot of hard work and artistry from makeup designer Michael Marino, who spoke about his process during The Penguin’s panel at San Diego Comic Con back in July.
    Christian Holub, EW.com, 6 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • Best of all, this layered, complex wine with bold fruit notes and savory freshness is $35—a fabulous deal.
    Katie Kelly Bell, Forbes, 9 Jan. 2025
  • There are even chic contemporary labels, like The Garment, Rue Sophie, Loulou de Saison, and The Frankie Shop, that offer up fabulous fashion finds under the $300 mark.
    Laura Jackson, Vogue, 9 Jan. 2025

Thesaurus Entries Near beautiful

Cite this Entry

“Beautiful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/beautiful. Accessed 22 Jan. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on beautiful

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!