embellish

[ em-bel-ish ]

verb (used with object)

1. to beautify by or as if by ornamentation; ornament; adorn.

   Synonyms: embroider, bedeck, garnish, decorate

2. to enhance (a statement or narrative) with fictitious additions.

embellish

/ ɪmˈbɛlɪʃ /

verb

1. to improve or beautify by adding detail or ornament; adorn
2. to make (a story) more interesting by adding detail
3. to provide (a melody, part, etc) with ornaments See ornament

Derived Forms

• emˈbellishment, noun
• emˈbellisher, noun

Other Words From

• em·bellish·er noun
• nonem·bellished adjective
• nonem·bellish·ing adjective
• over·em·bellish verb (used with object)
• reem·bellish verb (used with object)
• unem·bellished adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of embellish¹

1300–50; Middle English embelisshen < Anglo-French, Middle French embeliss- (stem of embelir ), equivalent to em- em- ¹ + bel- (< Latin bellus pretty) + -iss- -ish ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of embellish¹

C14: from Old French embelir, from bel beautiful, from Latin bellus

Example Sentences

She’s so sure of her melodies that she can embellish them at any moment, stretching or rushing or wriggling them as the impulse strikes.

From New York Times

But as Kaufman read on, he noticed Audubon’s penchant not just to embellish, but to make up tales from whole cloth.

From New York Times

“Michael Cohen would call me, and say he said, ‘We would like for you to run negative articles on a certain candidate,’ let’s say it’s on Ted Cruz, then he would send me information about Ted Cruz, or about Ben Carson, or about Marco Rubio, and that was the basis of our story and then we would embellish from there.”

From Slate

Whether or not the meeting Trump recalled actually happened — former aides will tell you that Trump has a tendency to embellish stories — his comments nevertheless express a deep frustration with the current transatlantic security arrangement.

From Seattle Times

Trump’s endorsement suggests that he is playing to the fascist script of using God to embellish his attacks on established authorities and institutions.

From Salon

Related Words

• adorn
• bedeck
• dress up
• embroider
• exaggerate
• festoon
• gild
• overstate
• spiff up