Saturday, April 26, 2008

BEAUTIFUL

AS DEFINED BY Merriam-Webster's dictionary


beautiful

Main Entry:
beau·ti·ful Listen to the pronunciation of beautiful
Pronunciation:
\ˈbyü-ti-fəl\
Function:
adjective
Date:
15th century
1 : having qualities of beauty : exciting aesthetic pleasure 2 : generally pleasing : excellent
beau·ti·ful·ly Listen to the pronunciation of beautifully \-f(ə-)lē\ adverb
beau·ti·ful·ness Listen to the pronunciation of beautifulness \-fəl-nəs\ noun
synonyms beautiful, lovely, handsome, pretty, comely, fair 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>. lovely is close to beautiful but applies to a narrower range of emotional excitation in suggesting the graceful, delicate, or exquisite lovely melody>. handsome suggests aesthetic pleasure due to proportion, symmetry, or elegance handsome Georgian mansion>. pretty often applies to superficial or insubstantial attractiveness pretty scenes>. comely is like handsome in suggesting what is coolly approved rather than emotionally responded to comely grace of a dancer>. fair suggests beauty because of purity, flawlessness, or freshness <fair of face>.