What does handsome mean?

handsome means "pleasing in appearance especially by reason of conformity to ideals of form and proportion". That is the primary sense; the word has 2 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in handsome?

handsome has 2 syllables: hand-some. The stress falls on "hand". In IPA it is /ˈhænsəm/.

What is another word for handsome?

Close synonyms include fine-looking, good-looking, better-looking, well-favored, well-favoured. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is handsome a common word?

handsome is banded "Core" — among the few thousand words that carry most english. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

What rhymes with handsome?

1 word rhymes with handsome. Rhymes are matched on the phonemes from the last stressed vowel onward, which is the definition a reader has in their head.

handsome — meaning, pronunciation and 2 definitions

adjective

2 sensesA word that describes or qualifies a noun.

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”
“our southern women are well-favored”
Synonymsfine-looking good-looking better-looking well-favored well-favoured
Similarbeautiful
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”
Synonymsbig bighearted bounteous bountiful freehanded giving liberal openhanded
Similargenerous

Other forms of handsome

comparative: handsomer·
superlative: handsomest·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about handsome

What does handsome mean?: handsome means "pleasing in appearance especially by reason of conformity to ideals of form and proportion". That is the primary sense; the word has 2 in total, listed in full on this page.
How many syllables are in handsome?: handsome has 2 syllables: hand-some. The stress falls on "hand". In IPA it is /ˈhænsəm/.
What is another word for handsome?: Close synonyms include fine-looking, good-looking, better-looking, well-favored, well-favoured. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.
Is handsome a common word?: handsome is banded "Core" — among the few thousand words that carry most english. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.
What rhymes with handsome?: 1 word rhymes with handsome. Rhymes are matched on the phonemes from the last stressed vowel onward, which is the definition a reader has in their head.

Definitions, synonyms and semantic relations for handsome come from Princeton University’s WordNet. The pronunciation comes from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. Commonness is measured against a corpus of everyday English. Full sources and licences.

adjective

2 sensesA word that describes or qualifies a noun.

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”
“our southern women are well-favored”
Synonymsfine-looking good-looking better-looking well-favored well-favoured
Similarbeautiful
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”
Synonymsbig bighearted bounteous bountiful freehanded giving liberal openhanded
Similargenerous

Other forms of handsome

comparative: handsomer·
superlative: handsomest·

Questions about handsome

What does handsome mean?: handsome means "pleasing in appearance especially by reason of conformity to ideals of form and proportion". That is the primary sense; the word has 2 in total, listed in full on this page.
How many syllables are in handsome?: handsome has 2 syllables: hand-some. The stress falls on "hand". In IPA it is /ˈhænsəm/.
What is another word for handsome?: Close synonyms include fine-looking, good-looking, better-looking, well-favored, well-favoured. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.
Is handsome a common word?: handsome is banded "Core" — among the few thousand words that carry most english. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.
What rhymes with handsome?: 1 word rhymes with handsome. Rhymes are matched on the phonemes from the last stressed vowel onward, which is the definition a reader has in their head.

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handsome

adjective

Other forms of handsome

Questions about handsome

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handsome

adjective

Other forms of handsome

Questions about handsome