beautify

verb

beau·​ti·​fy ˈbyü-tə-ˌfī How to pronounce beautify (audio)
beautified; beautifying

transitive verb

: to make beautiful or add beauty to

intransitive verb

: to grow beautiful
beautification noun
beautifier noun
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 sheds also activate and beautify vacant lots where homes once stood. La Risa R. Lynch, Journal Sentinel, 18 June 2024 Meanwhile, others beautified themselves with high fashion hair and makeup fit for the front row. India Espy-Jones, Essence, 17 June 2024 This would beautify the neighborhood and enhance the overall quality of life for its residents. Carmen De La Rosa, New York Daily News, 17 May 2024 After the event, volunteers fanned out to an array of nearby locations to engage in tasks such as cleaning up Coyote Creek and sprucing up and beautifying Kelley Park, which is home to both Happy Hollow and the Japanese Friendship Garden. George Avalos, The Mercury News, 1 June 2024 See all Example Sentences for beautify 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'beautify.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

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

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Time Traveler
The first known use of beautify was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near beautify

Cite this Entry

“Beautify.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/beautify. Accessed 4 Jul. 2024.

Kids Definition

beautify

verb
beau·​ti·​fy ˈbyüt-ə-ˌfī How to pronounce beautify (audio)
beautified; beautifying
: to make beautiful or more beautiful
beautification noun

More from Merriam-Webster on beautify

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