Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - beautiful

~ adj 1 someone or something that is beautiful is extremely good to look at and gives you a feeling of pleasure  (She was even more beautiful than I had remembered. | a beautiful bunch of flowers) 2 very good  (a beautiful experience | What a beautiful shot! | The weather was beautiful.) - beautifully adv  ( USAGE NOTE: BEAUTIFUL WORD CHOICE beautiful, pretty, handsome, good-looking, attractive, sexy Beautiful and pretty can be used of women, children, and things, but not usually of men, unless you want to suggest that they have female features a beautiful girl/house/view | a pretty child/picture/voice. Beautiful is the strongest word to describe a very attractive appearance, it suggests that someone has almost perfect good looks. Pretty means good-looking in a more ordinary way, but not really beautiful. Handsome is not common in spoken English. It is usually used to describe men, especially if they have the strong regular features that men in romantic stories are supposed to have. A handsome woman is good-looking in a strong, healthy way. Good-looking can be used about men and women, but not usually about things Gina and Barry are a good-looking couple. Attractive can be used about men, women, and things an attractive colour/idea/young man. An attractive person may not be very good-looking but makes other people sexually interested in them, though not as much as if they are sexy. )