Adjacent Words

Handsome definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

HAND'SOME, a.
1. Properly, dexterous; ready; convenient.
For a thief it is so handsome, as it may seem it was first invented for him.
This sense is either from the original meaning of hand, or from the use of the hand, or rather of the right hand. In this sense the word is still used. We say of a well fought combat and victory, it is a handsome affair, an affair well performed, done with dexterity or skill. [See Handy.]
2. Moderately beautiful, as the person or other thing; well made; having symmetry of parts; well formed. It expresses less than beautiful or elegant; as a handsome woman or man; she has a handsome person or face. So we say, a handsome house; a handsome type.
3. Graceful in manner; marked with propriety and ease; as a handsome address.
4. Ample; large; as handsome fortune.
5. Neat; correct; moderately elegant; as a handsome style or composition.
6. Liberal; generous; as a handsome present.
The applications of this word in popular language are various and somewhat indefinite. In general, when applied to things, it imports that the form is agreeable to the eye, or to just taste; and when applied to manner, it conveys the idea of suitableness or propriety with grace.
HAND'SOME, as a verb, to render neat or beautiful, is not an authorized word.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: pleasing in appearance especially by reason of conformity to ideals of form and proportion; "a fine-looking woman"; "a good-looking man"; "better-looking than her sister"; "very pretty but not so extraordinarily handsome"- Thackeray; "our southern women are well-favored"- Lillian Hellman [syn: fine-looking, good-looking, better- looking, handsome, well-favored, well-favoured]
2: given or giving freely; "was a big tipper"; "the bounteous goodness of God"; "bountiful compliments"; "a freehanded host"; "a handsome allowance"; "Saturday's child is loving and giving"; "a liberal backer of the arts"; "a munificent gift"; "her fond and openhanded grandfather" [syn: big, bighearted, bounteous, bountiful, freehanded, handsome, giving, liberal, openhanded]

Merriam Webster's

adjective (handsomer; -est) Etymology: Middle English handsom easy to manipulate Date: 1530 1. chiefly dialect appropriate, suitable 2. moderately large ; sizable <a painting that commanded a handsome price> 3. marked by skill or cleverness ; adroit 4. marked by graciousness or generosity ; liberal <handsome contributions to charity> 5. having a pleasing and usually impressive or dignified appearance Synonyms: see beautiful • handsomely adverb • handsomeness noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. (handsomer, handsomest) 1 (of a person) good-looking. 2 (of a building etc.) imposing, attractive. 3 a generous, liberal (a handsome present; handsome treatment). b (of a price, fortune, etc., as assets gained) considerable. Derivatives: handsomeness n. Etymology: ME, = easily handled, f. HAND + -SOME(1)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Handsome Hand"some (?; 277), a. [Compar. Handsomer; superl. Handsomest.] [Hand + -some. It at first meant, dexterous; cf. D. handzaam dexterous, ready, limber, manageable, and E. handy.] 1. Dexterous; skillful; handy; ready; convenient; -- applied to things as persons. [Obs.] That they [engines of war] be both easy to be carried and handsome to be moved and turned about. --Robynson (Utopia). For a thief it is so handsome as it may seem it was first invented for him. --Spenser. 2. 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 than beautiful; as, a handsome man or woman; a handsome garment, house, tree, horse.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

1. A handsome man has an attractive face with regular features. ...a tall, dark, handsome sheep farmer. = good-looking ADJ 2. A handsome woman has an attractive appearance with features that are large and regular rather than small and delicate. ...an extremely handsome woman with a beautiful voice. ADJ 3. A handsome sum of money is a large or generous amount. (FORMAL) They will make a handsome profit on the property. ADJ: ADJ n • handsomely He was rewarded handsomely for his efforts. ADV: ADV with v 4. If someone has a handsome win or a handsome victory, they get many more points or votes than their opponent. The opposition won a handsome victory in the election. ADJ: ADJ n • handsomely The car ran perfectly to the finish, and we won handsomely. ADV: ADV after v

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Comely, well-formed, well-proportioned, stately, fine-looking. 2. Graceful, easy, becoming, appropriate. 3. Generous, liberal, disinterested, noble, magnanimous. 4. Ample, sufficient, plentiful, large.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

He is a handsome-bodied man in the face; a jeering commendation of an ugly fellow. Handsome is that handsome does: a proverb frequently cited by ugly women.

Moby Thesaurus

abundant, aesthetic, aesthetically appealing, ample, attractive, august, beauteous, beautiful, big, bighearted, bonny, bounteous, bountiful, chic, chivalrous, comely, considerable, dashing, elegant, elevated, endowed with beauty, exalted, exquisite, eye-filling, fair, fashionable, fine, flowerlike, free, freehanded, freehearted, generous, giving, good, good-looking, goodly, graceful, gracile, gracious, great, great of heart, greathearted, heavy, heroic, high, high-minded, hospitable, idealistic, knightly, large, largehearted, lavish, liberal, lofty, lovely, magnanimous, majestic, modish, munificent, noble, noble-minded, open, openhanded, openhearted, pretty, princely, profuse, pulchritudinous, sizeable, smart, stately, stintless, stylish, sublime, substantial, ungrudging, unselfish, unsparing, unstinted, unstinting