handsome
adjective
- aesthetic concept
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈhæn.səm/
adj
Etymology: From Middle English handsum, hondsom, equivalent to hand + -some. Compare Dutch handzaam, German Low German handsaam. The original sense was “easy to handle or use”, hence “suitable” and “apt, clever” (mid-16th century), giving rise to the current appreciatory senses (late 16th century).
- Having a pleasing appearance, good-looking, attractive, particularly
“That is one handsome tree you've got there.”
“I saw, I confess, some good dancing and some handsome women, which was all my pleasure.”
- Having a pleasing appearance, good-looking, attractive
“I was struck dumb. Here was the most handsome man I’d ever seen in my life coming out of the surf.”
“Scott was a man then who looked like a boy with a face between handsome and pretty. He had very fair wavy hair, a high forehead, excited and friendly eyes and a delicate long-lipped Irish mouth that, on a girl, would have been the mouth of a beauty. His chin was well built and he had good ears and a handsome, almost beautiful, unmarked nose.”
- Having a pleasing appearance, good-looking, attractive
“She was either handsome or her uniform created a flattering effect but—being very nearsighted—he couldn't tell from this distance.”
- Good, appealing, appropriate.
“City have lapped up the plaudits this season for a series of handsome wins but manager Roberto Mancini has demanded that his side also learn to grind out results when they do not play well. He now has an example to point to.”
- Good, appealing, appropriate.
“Sunday, the sixth, we heaved up our sheet-anchor again, the day beginning with little wind, and continued handsome weather till eight at night, when the wind came to S. S. W. and it fell a snowing.”
“The story goes that James Whitcomb Riley, the poet, on a beautiful spring day, in making his way from his home to his office, was accosted by numerous friends on the way who were exclaiming most extravagantly on the beauty of the day. It was "Good morning, Mr. Riley, a fine day;" "Good morning, Mr. Riley, […] a handsome day;" […].”
- Good, appealing, appropriate.
“a handsome style”
“Easiness and handsome address in writing.”
- Generous or noble in character.
“I'm a plain man, Mr. Feverel. Above board with me, and you'll find me handsome.”
- Ample; moderately large.
“a handsome salary”
“He […] accumulated a handsome sum of money.”
- Of people and things: dexterous; skillful.
“That they [engines of war] be both easy to be carried and handsome to be moved and turned about.”
“Laſtly, for a theife it is ſo handſome, as it may ſeem it was firſt invented for him”
verb
Etymology: From Middle English handsum, hondsom, equivalent to hand + -some. Compare Dutch handzaam, German Low German handsaam. The original sense was “easy to handle or use”, hence “suitable” and “apt, clever” (mid-16th century), giving rise to the current appreciatory senses (late 16th century).
- To render handsome.