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
Fresh flowers beautify every room. volunteers beautified the roadside landscape by planting flowers
Recent Examples on the WebHartford — Armed with garbage bags, gloves and trash pickers, more than 100 volunteers gathered in the North End on Saturday morning to beautify and reinvigorate their neighborhood at the Barbour Street Community Cleanup. Alison Cross, Hartford Courant, 30 July 2022 Mayor Mike Duggan and the Detroit Office of Arts, Culture & Entrepreneurship (ACE) announced a $3-million pilot plan on Wednesday to beautify alleys in five neighborhoods in an effort to combat blight and create gathering spaces. Duante Beddingfield, Detroit Free Press, 28 July 2022 Roskill contributed to a project created by the Natick Center Cultural District to beautify and brighten downtown Natick through public art. Katie Mogg, BostonGlobe.com, 21 July 2022 San Antonio is giving residents a chance beautify the city — one brushstroke at a time. Caroline Tien, San Antonio Express-News, 27 June 2022 Riding high after the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, Chicago’s civic and business leaders were looking to permanently beautify their city. Chicago Tribune Staff, Chicago Tribune, 29 May 2022 The work to beautify the streets and sidewalks in one of Atlanta’s most impoverished areas began in 2016 after then-Mayor Kasim Reed initially proposed it in 2013. Wilborn Nobles, ajc, 14 June 2022 The photographic image became—and remained for at least a century—a guiding ideal, offering scientists the possibility of representing the world without succumbing to the human temptation to interpret or beautify. Hari Kunzru, Harper’s Magazine , 22 June 2022 The Canal Street art hub is adorned with a bike sculpture, bench, and mural, while train murals beautify Centre Street. Cindy Cantrell, BostonGlobe.com, 16 June 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
Middle English bewtyfien, from beautebeauty + -fien-fy