embellish

English

Etymology

From Old French embellir, from em- + bel.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪmˈbɛlɪʃ/, /ɛm-/

• Audio (US)

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Verb

1. To make more beautiful and attractive; to decorate.

   The old book cover was embellished with golden letters
2. To make something sound or look better or more acceptable than it is in reality; to distort, to embroider.

   to embellish a story, the truth

Synonyms

• adorn
• beautify
• decorate
• deck
• grace
• ornament
• prettify
• See also Thesaurus:decorate

Translations

to make more beautiful and attractive

• Arabic: جَمَّلَ (ar) (jammala), زَخْرَفَ (zaḵrafa)
• Armenian: զարդարել (hy) (zardarel)
• Bulgarian: украсявам (bg) (ukrasjavam), разкрасявам (bg) (razkrasjavam)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 美化 (zh) (měihuà), 修飾／修饰 (zh) (xiūshì), 修饰 (zh) (xiūshì)

• Dutch: verfraaien (nl)
• Finnish: somistaa (fi) (make more beautiful and attractive), kaunistaa (fi), koristella (fi) (decorate)
• French: embellir (fr)
• German: schmücken (de)
• Greek: διακοσμώ (el) (diakosmó), στολίζω (el) (stolízo)
• Hungarian: díszít (hu), szépít (hu)
• Ido: beleskar (io)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Irish: maisigh
• Italian: abbellire (it), agghindare (it), impreziosire, adornare (it), infronzolare
• Japanese: 飾る (ja) (かざる, kazaru)
• Maori: maihi, whakarārakai, whakarākai, whakarākei, whakahaumako
• Persian: آراستن (fa) (ârâstan)
• Portuguese: embelezar (pt)
• Quechua: achalay (qu)
• Russian: украша́ть (ru) (ukrašátʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: sgeadaich
• Spanish: embellecer (es)
• Swedish: försköna (sv), förfina (sv), utsmycka (sv)
• Turkish: süslemek (tr), güzelleştirmek (tr)

to make sound or look better

• Arabic: جَمَّلَ (ar) (jammala), زَخْرَفَ (zaḵrafa)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 點綴／点缀 (zh) (diǎnzhuì), 点缀 (zh) (diǎnzhui), 修飾／修饰 (zh) (xiūshì), 修饰 (zh) (xiūshì)

• Finnish: kaunistella (fi), parannella (fi)
• French: embellir (fr)
• German: ausschmücken (de), verbrämen (de), schönreden (de), verschönern (de), idealisieren (de), kaschieren (de)
• Greek: εξωραΐζω (el) (exoraḯzo)
• Hungarian: szépít (hu), kiszínez (hu)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: imbellettare, abbellire (it), impreziosire
• Japanese: 尾鰭を付ける (おひれをつける, ohire-o tsukeru)
• Maori: maihi, whakamōmona kōrero, whakahaumako
• Portuguese: embelezar (pt)
• Russian: приукра́шивать (ru) (priukrášivatʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: sgeadaich
• Spanish: adornar (es)
• Swedish: försköna (sv), utsmycka (sv)