Etimology
From Middle English bewteful, beautefull (“attractive to the eye, beautiful”), equivalent to beauty + -ful. In this sense, largely displaced Old English fæġer (whence fair).
adjective
beautiful (comparative more beautiful, superlative most beautiful)
Attractive and possessing beauty.
Good, admirable.
(of the weather) Pleasant; clear.
Well executed.
Examples
Anyone who has ever met her thought she was absolutely beautiful.
There's a beautiful lake by the town.
It's rather like a beautiful Inverness cloak one has inherited. Much too good to hide away, so one wears it instead of an overcoat and pretends it's an amusing new fashion.
It is a beautiful kitchen! — It is beautiful.
Audio
He was a beautiful person; he would drop everything to help you.
You've done a beautiful thing today.
It's beautiful outside, let's go for a walk.
The skater performed a beautiful axel.
Related words
synonyms
(possessing charm and attractive): beauteous, attractive, cute, fair, good-looking, gorgeous, sheen, handsome, hot (slang), lovely, nice-looking, pretty, shapely, fit (slang)
(of the weather): clear, fine, nice, pleasant, sunny
(well executed): excellent, exceptional, good, great, marvellous/marvelous, perfect, stylish, wonderful
(ironic: how unfortunate): great, marvellous/marvelous, nice, very nice, wonderful (any of these can be prefixed with an intensifier such as bloody, damned or just)
See also Thesaurus:beautiful
antonyms
(antonym(s) of "possessing charm and attractive"): grotesque, hideous, homely, plain, misshapen, repulsive, ugly; unbeautiful
(antonym(s) of "of the weather"): bad, cloudy, dull, miserable, overcast, rainy, wet
(antonym(s) of "well executed"): average, bad, mediocre, poor, shoddy, substandard, terrible, weak
related terms
beautySee also Thesaurus:beautiful woman
See also Thesaurus:beautiful woman
noun
beautiful (plural beautifuls)
Someone who is beautiful. Can be used as a term of address.
Examples
The man was faithful to his wife, ignoring the many blonde beautifuls who surrounded him wherever he went.
Hey, beautiful!