embellish
to make more beautiful or interesting
TRANSLATION
embellish = verschönern, ausschmücken --- GOOGLE INDEX embellish: approximately 7,800,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
Ways to EMBELLISH the Garden
(New York Times article headline)
---
At various times in his career, Lord Archer — novelist, one-time Conservative MP, deputy party chairman and candidate for London mayor — EMBELLISHED his academic credentials and family history.
(BBC News)
(New York Times article headline)
---
At various times in his career, Lord Archer — novelist, one-time Conservative MP, deputy party chairman and candidate for London mayor — EMBELLISHED his academic credentials and family history.
(BBC News)
Did you
know?
embellish
verb
- to make something more beautiful or interesting by adding something to it
noun
embellishment
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
---
Embellish is a 15th century word that stems from the Old French embelliss — the stem of embellir, meaning "to make beautiful, to ornament" — which is from em (cause to be, make) + bel (from Latin bellus = beautiful).
Embellish has two basic definitions. The first, and original definition relates to making an object more beautiful through ornaments, decorations and additional features. You can embellish a dress with jewellery for instance. Or embellish a room with artwork or additional furnishings. How about embellishing a meal with a sophisticated dessert? Although city officials tend to disagree, graffiti artists also view their craft as embellishment.
The second usage has to do with exaggerating stories, explanations, personal qualifications, experiences and other characteristics. In the old days of sailing ships, sailors were known to embellish stories of high-seas adventures, conjuring up visions of vicious storms and monster-sized fish or sea creatures. These were also called "seaman's yarns," a yarn being a long and usually exaggerated, but entertaining tale.
Fishermen also like to embellish sometimes. It's easier (and more fun) to impress friends with stories about the meter-long catfish that you fought for an hour instead of the 10-centimetre carp that you scooped-up with a fishing net.
---
SYNONYMS
(make more attractive)
add bells and whistles, adorn, array, beautify, bedeck, colour, deck, dress up, elaborate, emblaze, embroider, enhance, enrich, festoon, fix up, garnish, gild, give details, grace, gussy up, ornament, spiff up, spruce up, trim
(exaggerate)
amplify, fudge, magnify, overstate, hyperbolize, inflate, pad, stretch
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"Although he tends to embellish, his stories are always entertaining."
verb
- to make something more beautiful or interesting by adding something to it
noun
embellishment
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
---
Embellish is a 15th century word that stems from the Old French embelliss — the stem of embellir, meaning "to make beautiful, to ornament" — which is from em (cause to be, make) + bel (from Latin bellus = beautiful).
Embellish has two basic definitions. The first, and original definition relates to making an object more beautiful through ornaments, decorations and additional features. You can embellish a dress with jewellery for instance. Or embellish a room with artwork or additional furnishings. How about embellishing a meal with a sophisticated dessert? Although city officials tend to disagree, graffiti artists also view their craft as embellishment.
The second usage has to do with exaggerating stories, explanations, personal qualifications, experiences and other characteristics. In the old days of sailing ships, sailors were known to embellish stories of high-seas adventures, conjuring up visions of vicious storms and monster-sized fish or sea creatures. These were also called "seaman's yarns," a yarn being a long and usually exaggerated, but entertaining tale.
Fishermen also like to embellish sometimes. It's easier (and more fun) to impress friends with stories about the meter-long catfish that you fought for an hour instead of the 10-centimetre carp that you scooped-up with a fishing net.
---
SYNONYMS
(make more attractive)
add bells and whistles, adorn, array, beautify, bedeck, colour, deck, dress up, elaborate, emblaze, embroider, enhance, enrich, festoon, fix up, garnish, gild, give details, grace, gussy up, ornament, spiff up, spruce up, trim
(exaggerate)
amplify, fudge, magnify, overstate, hyperbolize, inflate, pad, stretch
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"Although he tends to embellish, his stories are always entertaining."
