Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Pleasing and dignified in form or appearance. See Synonyms at beautiful.
- adj. Generous or copious: a handsome reward. See Synonyms at liberal.
- adj. Marked by or requiring skill dexterity: did some handsome maneuvers on the skating rink.
- adj. Appropriate or fitting: a handsome location for the new school.
- adj. Large: a handsome price; won by a handsome margin.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Easy to handle or use; handy; ready; convenient.
- Agreeable to the eye or to correct taste; pleasing in proportions and aspect; having symmetry or harmony of parts; well formed and well attired, equipped, or arrayed: as, a handsome person or face; a handsome building; a handsome display.
- Graceful in manner; marked by propriety and ease; becoming; appropriate: as, a handsome style; a handsome delivery or address.
- Such as to suit one's convenience or desires; ample; large; on a liberal scale: as, a handsome income or outlay.
- Characterized by or expressive of generosity or magnanimity: as, a handsome apology; a handsome action.
- Synonyms Pretty, Fair, etc. See beautiful.
- To make handsome; render pleasing or attractive.
Wiktionary
- adj. obsolete Dexterous; skillful; handy; ready; convenient; -- applied to things as persons.
- adj. of a man Agreeable to the eye or to correct taste; having a pleasing appearance or expression; attractive.
- adj. of a woman Striking, impressive and elegantly proportioned, though not typically beautiful.
- adj. Suitable or fit in action; marked with propriety and ease; graceful; becoming; appropriate.
- adj. Evincing a becoming generosity or nobleness of character; liberal; generous.
- adj. Ample; moderately large.
- adj. Having a good appearance
- v. transitive, obsolete To render handsome.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. obsolete Dexterous; skillful; handy; ready; convenient; -- applied to things as persons.
- adj. Agreeable to the eye or to correct taste; having a pleasing appearance or expression; attractive; having symmetry and dignity; comely; -- expressing more than
pretty , and less thanbeautiful - adj. Suitable or fit in action; marked with propriety and ease; graceful; becoming; appropriate.
- adj. Evincing a becoming generosity or nobleness of character; liberal; generous.
- adj. Ample; moderately large.
- v. obsolete To render handsome.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. pleasing in appearance especially by reason of conformity to ideals of form and proportion
- adj. given or giving freely
Etymologies
- hand + -some, compare Dutch handzaam. (Wiktionary)
- Middle English handsom, handy : hand, hand (from Old English) + -som, n. suff.; see -some1. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“I give it up," said I. "It's because I'm so _handsome_ -- we're _all_ handsome, you know, and”
“But the word handsome did not even approach the glory of Alec Aarronson.”
“But still he is not quite a — what one calls a handsome man, nor quite”
“I, prompted by that worst of devils, poverty, returned to the vile practice, and made the advantage of what they call a handsome face to be the relief to my necessities, and beauty be a pimp to vice.”
““I'm not sure about the word handsome,” Joseph said.”
“If I'm going to ride what he calls the handsome, Jake thought, I'd just as soon go with plenty of company.”
“I often reflected how my lover at the Bath, struck at the hand of God, repented and abandoned me, and refused to see me any more, though he loved me to an extreme; but I, prompted by that worst of devils, poverty, returned to the vile practice, and made the advantage of what they call a handsome face to be the relief to my necessities, and beauty be a pimp to vice.”
“Do you not know that the animal, which they call a handsome and beautiful object, is so much more formidable than the Tarantula, as those insects instil something when they touch, but this creature, without even touching, but if a person only looks at it, though from a very great distance, instils something of such potency, as to drive people mad?”
“Now that's what I call a handsome mantel; and ain't the marble kept real pretty?”
“The young fellow would probably not have fascinated all women, as he was not what one calls a handsome man; but his features, as a whole, expressed such ardent and sympathetic life, such enthusiasm and energy, that they doubtless engaged the thoughts of the girls of his own part -- those sunburnt girls of the”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘handsome’.
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Beautiful and Ugly
Beautiful, attractive, well-formed
Ugly, unattractive, malformedadorable, alluring, angelic, appealing, appetizing, attractive, beaming, beauteous, beautiful, becoming, beguiling, bewitching and 180 more...
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Describing People
eye, hair, mouth, nose, tooth, head, face, arm, hand, finger, lip, leg and 212 more...
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You are so GOOD LOOKING!
Words about looking good
a dish, dishy, snazzy, styling, looker, handsome, beautiful, delicious, dessert, yummy, tantalizing, hormone hunk and 55 more...
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-some
How I love that old English suffix
tricksome, winsome, meddlesome, handsome, fulsome, lonesome, lovesome, noisome, wholesome, loathsome, cumbersome, lustsome and 16 more...
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Whatever's at hand
For a more comprehensive list, see Hernesheir's Handy Words.
For trivet's wonderful list of handy compounds, see handie.
hand, hands, handy, handedness, Tristram Shandy, left hand, red-handed, cackhanded, on the other hand, on the one hand, to hand, backhand and 18 more...
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I am : physical
Describing appearance and physique. More quantitative than qualitative/comparative. Can be used to sum a person up one-wordedly. (Still working on the definition of what I want in this list.)
handsome, beautiful, pretty, comely, ugly, rugged, buxom, buff, chiseled, svelte, lithe, portly and 35 more...
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Adjectives
Appearance Adjectives
unsightly, glamorous, fancy, ugliest, drab, quaint, plain, long, clean, elegant, Appearance Adject..., adorable and 5 more...
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Lillyjames's Words
uncategorized words that I enjoy
replete, unabashed, dauntless, ubiquitous, fanged, blush, flush, murmur, mercurial, dishevelled, decrepit, raven and 146 more...
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The Sog Collection
My big word list.
chaos, flaccid, empirical, flotsam, cacophony, grumble, assuage, awe, romance, mortality, coalesce, fortuitous and 3282 more...
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Apples to Apples: Green Cards
A complete list of the green cards (adjectives) from the popular word game.
absurd, addictive, adorable, aged, American, ancient, animated, annoying, appetizing, arrogant, awesome, awkward and 237 more...
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Basic English Vocabulary
Very basic words for ESL students.
a, abandon, ability, able, abortion, about, above, abroad, absence, absolute, absolutely, absorb and 4334 more...
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Samme's Words
soliloquy, meander, creativity, magic, discovery, happiness, empowerment, abundance, [magnificent], iridescent, artistic, magical and 694 more...
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fitting words
a list of words from the indo european root ar- and variations : to fit together
ambry, rede, coarctate, anarthrous, artiodactyl, exordium, harmony, army, armoire, arm, armada, armadillo and 349 more...
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The things they carried (List 2)
Listening to this as an audio book for the second time. Tim O'Brien uses simple words and phrases to great effect. Very few unfamilar and big words . The writing style reminds me of words from Joh...
The, Things, They, Carried, meant, fond, By necessity,, presented to him, far beyond, against the brick..., reaching, taut and 2940 more...
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Bird Wirds: Adjectives
Adjectives used in actual (non-taxonomic) bird names, past and present.
roseate, glossy, whooping, neotropic, pelagic, ferruginous, crested, whiskered, marbled, tufted, horned, eared and 818 more...
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ash
ash
abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abide, abject, abjure and 4874 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for handsome.
reesetee And yet they remain endlessly entertaining. :-) Sep 17, 2007
uselessness Which might be just as true as my explanation. My madeupical etymologies are worth diddly. Sep 17, 2007
reesetee And here I thought it was just a guy with some hands. Sep 17, 2007
uselessness From English circa the Middle Ages, referring to a man of good hands, indicating a strong and healthy laborer. In an agrarian society, the best indication of a man's "worth" as a mate was his work ethic and acclimation to long hours in the fields. Over time the word has evolved to indicate physical attractiveness, but retains part of the original meaning: a man's excellence as a mate. Sep 17, 2007
sonofgroucho Such a charmingly old-fashioned word. Sep 16, 2007
brtom "I vow, child, you are vastly handsome."
Goldsmith, She Stoops, III Jan 11, 2007