embellish

verb

em·​bel·​lish im-ˈbe-lish 

embellished; embellishing; embellishes

transitive verb

1

: to make beautiful with ornamentation : decorate

a book embellished with illustrations

2

: to heighten the attractiveness of by adding decorative or fanciful details : enhance

embellished our account of the trip

embellisher noun

Did you know?

Embellish is related to the French word for "beautiful," bel, and, traditionally, it has been used to imply beautifying an object with the addition of things unessential. That's still true; however, it is equally appealing as an adjective for making statements or stories sound more entertaining.

Synonyms

• color
• elaborate (on)
• embroider
• exaggerate
• hyperbolize
• magnify
• pad
• stretch

Choose the Right Synonym for embellish

adorn, decorate, ornament, embellish, beautify, deck, garnish mean to enhance the appearance of something by adding something unessential.

adorn implies an enhancing by something beautiful in itself.

a diamond necklace adorned her neck

decorate suggests relieving plainness or monotony by adding beauty of color or design.

decorate a birthday cake

ornament and embellish imply the adding of something extraneous, ornament stressing the heightening or setting off of the original

a white house ornamented with green shutters

, embellish often stressing the adding of superfluous or adventitious ornament.

embellish a page with floral borders

beautify adds to embellish a suggestion of counterbalancing plainness or ugliness.

will beautify the grounds with flower beds

deck implies the addition of something that contributes to gaiety, splendor, or showiness.

a house all decked out for Christmas

garnish suggests decorating with a small final touch and is used especially in referring to the serving of food.

an entrée garnished with parsley

Examples of embellish in a Sentence

a book embellished with colorful illustrations

He embellished his speech with a few quotations.

Recent Examples on the Web

Adele donned a sweeping black gown with a portrait neckline, embellished with glistening black baubles, her hair long and loose. —Edward Segarra, USA TODAY, 3 Nov. 2024

Nancy embellished and subtracted, like a great writer does. —Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 1 Nov. 2024

The bottle is housed in a custom spherical decanter embellished with peridot, emerald quartzite and 24 carat gold plating created by computational architect Michael Hansmeyer. —Alissa Fitzgerald, Forbes, 29 Oct. 2024

The top was a sleeveless, button-down tunic with a sheer, wide hem embellished with sparkly beads, worn over a pair of ankle-length, wide-leg trousers in the same black silk fabric. —Kathleen Walsh, Glamour, 24 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Anglo-French embeliss-, stem of embelir, from en- + bel beautiful — more at beauty

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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Kids Definition

embellish

verb

em·​bel·​lish im-ˈbel-ish 

: to make beautiful with ornamentation : decorate

a book embellished with pictures

embellishment

-mənt

noun