List of 426 Sets of Synonyms - How they Differ - Total of 2307 Words - 36

SYNONYMS: beautiful, lovely, pretty, handsome, comely, fair.
All these adjectives apply to what excites aesthetic admiration.

Beautiful, the most comprehensive, applies to what stirs a heightened response both of the senses (a beautiful child; beautiful country; a beautiful painting) and of the mind on its highest level (a persuasive and beautiful theory; a beautiful mathematical proof).
Lovely applies to what inspires emotion rather than intellectual appreciation: They were lovely, your eyes, but you didn't know where to look. Every man feels instinctively that all the beautiful sentiments in the world weigh less than a single lovely action.
What is pretty is beautiful but in a delicate or graceful way; the word rarely applies to what is imposing: a pretty face; a pretty song; a pretty room.
Handsome stresses visual appeal by reason of conformity to ideals of form and proportion: a very large, handsome paneled library. She is very pretty, but not so extraordinarily handsome.
Comely is usually restricted to wholesome physical attractiveness: Mrs. Hurd is a large woman with a big, comely, simple face.
Fair in this context emphasizes visual appeal deriving from freshness or purity: She was a fair young maiden.