beautify

verb

beau·​ti·​fy ˈbyü-tə-ˌfī 

beautified; beautifying

transitive verb

: to make beautiful or add beauty to

intransitive verb

: to grow beautiful

beautification

ˌbyü-tə-fə-ˈkā-shən 

noun

beautifier

ˈbyü-tə-ˌfī(-ə)r 

noun

Synonyms

• adorn
• array
• bedeck
• bedizen
• blazon
• caparison
• deck
• decorate
• do
• do up
• doll up
• drape
• dress
• embellish
• emblaze
• emboss
• enrich
• fancify
• fancy up
• festoon
• garnish
• glitz (up)
• grace
• gussy up
• ornament
• pretty (up)
• trim

Choose the Right Synonym for beautify

adorn, decorate, ornament, embellish, beautify, deck, garnish mean to enhance the appearance of something by adding something unessential.

adorn implies an enhancing by something beautiful in itself.

a diamond necklace adorned her neck

decorate suggests relieving plainness or monotony by adding beauty of color or design.

decorate a birthday cake

ornament and embellish imply the adding of something extraneous, ornament stressing the heightening or setting off of the original

a white house ornamented with green shutters

, embellish often stressing the adding of superfluous or adventitious ornament.

embellish a page with floral borders

beautify adds to embellish a suggestion of counterbalancing plainness or ugliness.

will beautify the grounds with flower beds

deck implies the addition of something that contributes to gaiety, splendor, or showiness.

a house all decked out for Christmas

garnish suggests decorating with a small final touch and is used especially in referring to the serving of food.

an entrée garnished with parsley

Examples of beautify in a Sentence

Fresh flowers beautify every room.

volunteers beautified the roadside landscape by planting flowers

Recent Examples on the Web

The change would create a funding stream that puts money toward beautifying the area, promoting its businesses and potentially adding public bathrooms. —Sabrina Moreno, Axios, 24 July 2024

Keep their coffee warm with a new mug heater, help them de-stress after a long day with an essential oil diffuser or neck massager, and beautify their classroom through real (and Lego) plants. —Melissa Epifano, People.com, 1 Dec. 2024

This reset aligns with consumer trends, where shoppers are more motivated to purchase trees and plants to beautify their spaces. —Tammy Sons, Forbes, 1 Nov. 2024

For Carver, color was a tool to beautify the homes of the region’s poorest residents that could be achieved through natural resources. —Jacqui Palumbo, CNN, 1 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English bewtyfien, from beaute beauty + -fien -fy

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Kids Definition

beautify

verb

beau·​ti·​fy ˈbyüt-ə-ˌfī 

beautified; beautifying

: to make beautiful or more beautiful

beautification

ˌbyüt-ə-fə-ˈkā-shən 

noun