embellish

American

[em-bel-ish] / ɛmˈbɛl ɪʃ /

verb (used with object)

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

Synonyms:

embroider, bedeck, garnish, decorate
to enhance (a statement or narrative) with fictitious additions.

embellish British

/ ɪmˈbɛlɪʃ /

verb

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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

embellisher noun
embellishment noun
nonembellished adjective
nonembellishing adjective
overembellish verb (used with object)
reembellish verb (used with object)
unembellished adjective

Etymology

Origin of embellish

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

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023