Too Many Instances of Beautiful in Your Prose or Poetry Will Dilute Its Effectiveness

The rainbow is beautiful.

Look at that beautiful woman.

This dress is beautiful.

If you resort to beautiful more than a handful of times throughout a novel, dialogue excluded, your writing will suffer.

At the bottom of this post, you’ll find more than 200 alternatives for beautiful. Don’t merely plug in substitutions. Try using the suggestions as catalysts to transform the words into verbs or nouns.

Consider This Sentence

Helen was beautiful.

Let’s pick a few words from the list and do a rewrite.

Helen’s ethereal poise tantalized every suitor who bowed the knee before her.

Better?

The List:

A

adorable, alluring, amazing, angelic, appealing, arresting, astonishing, astounding, attractive, awe-inspiring, awesome

B

beauteous, bedazzling, beguiling, bewitching, bodacious, bonny, boundless, breathtaking

C

captivating, celestial, charming, chaste, cherubic, come-hither, comely, compelling, consummate, coquettish, cosmopolitan, curvaceous, cute

D

dazzling, delectable, delicious, delightful, desirable, disarming, divine, dreamy, dumbfounding, dynamic

E

electrifying, elegant, empyrean, enchanting, endearing, engaging, enrapturing, enthralling, enticing, entrancing, ethereal, exceptional, exciting, exotic, exquisite, extraordinary, eye-catching

F

fabulous, fair, fascinating, fetching, fiery, fine, flabbergasting, flaming, flawless, flirtatious, formidable, foxy

G and H

genteel, genuine, glamorous, glittering, glorious, glowing, good-looking, gorgeous, gracious, gripping, handsome, heady, heavenly, hot, hypnotic

I

immeasurable, impeccable, impersonal, imposing, incomparable, inconceivable, incredible, indescribable, inescapable, inexorable, infinite, inimitable, intoxicating, intriguing, inviting, irresistible

J to L

jaw-dropping, knockout, limitless, lissome, lovely, luminous, luscious, lush, lustrous

M

magical, magnetic, magnificent, majestic, matchless, measureless, mesmerizing, mind-boggling, momentous, mouth-watering, mysterious, mystical

N and O

noble, nonpareil, opulent, otherworldly, outstanding, overpowering, overwhelming

P

paralyzing, peerless, perfect, perky, personable, phenomenal, picture-perfect, picturesque, pleasing, poised, polished, potent, prepossessing, pretty, pristine, provocative, pure

R

radiant, rapturous, rare, ravishing, recherché, red-hot, refined, regal, remarkable, resplendent

S

saintly, salacious, scorching, seductive, sensational, sensuous, seraphic, serene, sexy, singular, slinky, smoking, sophisticated, sparkling, spectacular, spectral, spellbinding, spine-tingling, splendid, splendiferous, splendorous, staggering, stately, statuesque, striking, stunning, stupefying, stylish, sublime, sui generis, sultry, sunny, superior, supreme, surreal, sweet

T

taking, tantalizing, teasing, tempting, thrilling, titillating, torrid, transcendent, transcendental, transfixing

U

unbelievable, uncanny, unearthly, unequalled, unimaginable, unique, unprecedented, unrivaled, unsurpassed, untold

V and W

vivacious, voluptuous, wholesome, willowy, winning, winsome, wondrous