embellish
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em·bel·lish
(ĕm-bĕl′ĭsh)tr.v. em·bel·lished, em·bel·lish·ing, em·bel·lish·es
1. To make beautiful, as by ornamentation; decorate.
2. To add ornamental or fictitious details to: a fanciful account that embellishes the true story.
[Middle English embelishen, from Old French embellir, embelliss- : en-, causative pref.; see en-1 + bel, beautiful (from Latin bellus; see deu- in Indo-European roots).]
em·bel′lish·er n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
embellish
(ɪmˈbɛlɪʃ)vb (tr)
1. to improve or beautify by adding detail or ornament; adorn
2. to make (a story) more interesting by adding detail
3. (Music, other) to provide (a melody, part, etc) with ornaments. See ornament5
[C14: from Old French embelir, from bel beautiful, from Latin bellus]
emˈbellisher n
emˈbellishment n
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
em•bel•lish
(ɛmˈbɛl ɪʃ)v.t.
1. to beautify by or as if by ornamentation; adorn.
2. to enhance with elaborative additions.
[1300–50; Middle English < Anglo-French, Middle French embeliss-]
em•bel′lish•er, n.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
embellish
Past participle: embellished
Gerund: embellishing
Imperative |
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embellish |
embellish |
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
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Verb | 1. | embellish - add details to glorify - cause to seem more splendid; "You are glorifying a rather mediocre building" exaggerate, hyperbolise, hyperbolize, overstate, amplify, magnify, overdraw - to enlarge beyond bounds or the truth; "tended to romanticize and exaggerate this `gracious Old South' imagery" |
2. | embellish - be beautiful to look at; "Flowers adorned the tables everywhere" be - have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun); "John is rich"; "This is not a good answer" ornament - be an ornament to; "stars ornamented the Christmas tree" | |
3. | embellish - make more attractive by adding ornament, colour, etc.; "Decorate the room for the party"; "beautify yourself for the special day" alter, change, modify - cause to change; make different; cause a transformation; "The advent of the automobile may have altered the growth pattern of the city"; "The discussion has changed my thinking about the issue" wreathe - decorate or deck with wreaths; "wreathe the grave site" braid - decorate with braids or ribbons; "braid a collar" stick - cover and decorate with objects that pierce the surface; "stick some feathers in the turkey before you serve it" illustrate - supply with illustrations; "illustrate a book with drawings" garland - adorn with bands of flowers or leaves; "They garlanded the statue" foliate - decorate with leaves flag - decorate with flags; "the building was flagged for the holiday" bard, barde, caparison, dress up - put a caparison on; "caparison the horses for the festive occasion" bead - decorate by sewing beads onto; "bead the wedding gown" pipe - trim with piping; "pipe the skirt" applique - sew on as a decoration gild the lily, paint the lily - adorn unnecessarily (something that is already beautiful) vermiculate - decorate with wavy or winding lines smock - embellish by sewing in straight lines crossing each other diagonally; "The folk dancers wore smocked shirts" hang - decorate or furnish with something suspended; "Hang wallpaper" prank - dress or decorate showily or gaudily; "Roses were pranking the lawn" tinsel - adorn with tinsel; "snow flakes tinseled the trees" tart up - decorate in a cheap and flashy way; "the small-town bar was all tarted up" stucco - decorate with stucco work; "stuccoed ceilings" redecorate - redo the decoration of an apartment or house panel - decorate with panels; "panel the walls with wood" scallop - decorate an edge with scallops; "the dress had a scalloped skirt" bedizen - decorate tastelessly dress ship - decorate a ship with flags trim - decorate, as with ornaments; "trim the christmas tree"; "trim a shop window" festoon - decorate with strings of flowers; "The public buildings were festooned for the holiday" enamel - coat, inlay, or surface with enamel inlay - decorate the surface of by inserting wood, stone, and metal lacquer - coat with lacquer; "A lacquered box from China" illuminate - add embellishments and paintings to (medieval manuscripts) fringe - adorn with a fringe; "The weaver fringed the scarf" fret - decorate with an interlaced design landscape - embellish with plants; "Let's landscape the yard" ornament - be an ornament to; "stars ornamented the Christmas tree" | |
4. | embellish - make more beautiful ameliorate, improve, meliorate, amend, better - to make better; "The editor improved the manuscript with his changes" window-dress, dress up - make something appear superficially attractive; "The researcher tried to dress up the uninteresting data"; "Don't try to dress up the unpleasant truth" slick up, smarten up, spiff up, spruce, spruce up, titivate, tittivate - make neat, smart, or trim; "Spruce up your house for Spring"; "titivate the child" |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
embellish
verb
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002
embellish
verb1. To furnish with decorations:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
يُزَيِّن، يُزَخْرِفيُنَمِّق، يَزيد التّفاصيل للإثارَه
brodere påforskønneudsmykke
kaunistella
díszítkiszínezszépít
skreytaskreyta, ÿkja
pagražinimaspagražintipapuošimas
izgreznotizpušķotizrotāt
prikrášliť
ilginçleştirmeksüslemeksüsleyip püslemek
embellish
[ɪmˈbelɪʃ] VT (= decorate) → embellecer (with con) (fig) [+ story, truth] → adornar (with con)Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
embellish
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
embellish
[ɪmˈbɛlɪʃ] vt to embellish (with) (decorate) → abbellire (con) (fig) (story, truth) → infiorettare (con)Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
embellish
(imˈbeliʃ) verb1. to increase the interest of (a story etc) by adding (untrue) details. The soldier embellished the story of his escape.
2. to make beautiful with ornaments etc. uniform embellished with gold braid.
emˈbellishment nounKernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.