: to heighten the attractiveness of by adding decorative or fanciful details : enhance
embellished our account of the trip
embellishernoun
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.
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
Example Sentences
a book embellished with colorful illustrations He embellished his speech with a few quotations.
Recent Examples on the WebFashion a dress from red-and-white gingham fabric (or simply buy one), and embellish it with paper plates, kids’ faux foods, and utensils. Terri Robertson, Country Living, 22 Aug. 2022 Her lie is profound and hurtful; don’t tempt her to embellish further or to put her own spin on these long-ago events. Amy Dickinson, Detroit Free Press, 19 Aug. 2022 Her lie is profound and hurtful; don’t tempt her to embellish further or to put her own spin on these long-ago events. Amy Dickinson, cleveland, 19 Aug. 2022 Her lie is profound and hurtful; don’t tempt her to embellish further or to put her own spin on these long-ago events. Amy Dickinson, Chicago Tribune, 19 Aug. 2022 Her lie is profound and hurtful; don’t tempt her to embellish further or to put her own spin on these long-ago events. Amy Dickinson, oregonlive, 19 Aug. 2022 More than 30 different types of Statuario marble have been used in the walls and flooring throughout the hotel, and 1,790sqm of 24carat gold leaf was used to embellish the interior. Roger Sands, Forbes, 6 July 2022 My days consisted of recording bombastic diatribes at his studio in Austin, Texas, or traveling the world to embellish, misrepresent and manufacture stories to suit his biases. Josh Owens, CNN, 12 June 2022 In addition to the sparkly belly, this mom-to-be also used rhinestone stickers to embellish her face. Marisa Lascala, Good Housekeeping, 13 June 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
Middle English, from Anglo-French embeliss-, stem of embelir, from en- + bel beautiful — more at beauty