Synonyms beautiful
beautiful
pretty ▪ handsome ▪ attractive ▪ lovely ▪ good-looking ▪ gorgeous
These words all describe people who are pleasant to look at.
beautiful (most often used of a woman or girl) very pleasant to look at:
She looked stunningly beautiful that night.
pretty (most often used of a girl or woman) pleasant to look at:
She’s got a very pretty face.
Pretty is used most often to talk about girls. When it is used to talk about a woman, it usually suggests that she is like a girl, with small, delicate features.
handsome (of a man) pleasant to look at; (of a woman) pleasant to look at, with large strong features rather than small delicate ones:
He was described as ‘tall, dark and handsome’.
attractive (of a person) pleasant to look at, especially in a sexual way:
She’s a very attractive woman.
lovely (of a person) beautiful; very attractive:
She looked particularly lovely that night.
When you describe somebody as lovely, you are usually showing that you also like them very much.
good-looking (of a person) pleasant to look at, often in a sexual way:
She arrived with a very good-looking man.
gorgeous (informal) (of a person) extremely attractive, especially in a sexual way:
You look gorgeous!
attractive or good-looking?
If you describe somebody as attractive you often also mean that they have a pleasant personality as well as being pleasant to look at; good-looking only describes somebody’s physical appearance.
Patterns
a(n) beautiful/pretty/handsome/attractive/lovely/good-looking/gorgeous girl/woman
a(n) beautiful/handsome/attractive/good-looking/gorgeous boy/man
a(n) beautiful/pretty/handsome/attractive/lovely/good-looking face