HANDSOME • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Handsome

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/hˈænsəm/ Listen

adjective

Handsome adj. (compar. handsomer; superl. handsomest)

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." "For a thief it is so handsome as it may seem it was first invented for him."

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.

3.

Suitable or fit in action; marked with propriety and ease; graceful; becoming; appropriate; as, a handsome style, etc. "Easiness and handsome address in writing."

4.

Evincing a becoming generosity or nobleness of character; liberal; generous. "Handsome is as handsome does."

5.

Ample; moderately large. "He... accumulated a handsome sum of money."

To do the handsome thing, to act liberally. (Colloq.)

Synonyms: Handsome, Pretty. Pretty applies to things comparatively small, which please by their delicacy and grace; as, a pretty girl, a pretty flower, a pretty cottage. Handsome rises higher, and is applied to objects on a larger scale. We admire what is handsome, we are pleased with what is pretty. The word is connected with hand, and has thus acquired the idea of training, cultivation, symmetry, and proportion, which enters so largely into our conception of handsome. Thus Drayton makes mention of handsome players, meaning those who are well trained; and hence we speak of a man's having a handsome address, which is the result of culture; of a handsome horse or dog, which implies well proportioned limbs; of a handsome face, to which, among other qualities, the idea of proportion and a graceful contour are essential; of a handsome tree, and a handsome house or villa. So, from this idea of proportion or suitableness, we have, with a different application, the expressions, a handsome fortune, a handsome offer.

verb

Handsome v. t. To render handsome. (Obs.)

See images of 'Handsome'

Etymology of 'Handsome'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Handsome" Quotes from Famous Books

... been out of print (we are glad to hear it), and also calling attention to the glossary at the end of the volume, "with some hints on Dorset word-shapes." Mr. Barnes is past reviewing, and we will only add that this complete collection (467 pages) forms a handsome and well-printed volume, and is altogether a thing ...

— The Contemporary Review, Volume 36, September 1879 • Various

... had dawdled, looked over and stretched each of her handsome limbs, she sang, as she washed, a sentimental Lied in fourteen couplets, threw water at Christophe's face—he was outside drumming on the window—and as they left she plucked the last rose in the garden and then they took the ...

— Jean-Christophe, Vol. I • Romain Rolland

... silently clinked glasses, and drank their drop of brandy. Gervaise was then able to look at Lantier at her ease; for on the night of her saint's day, she had only seen him through a fog. He had grown more stout, his arms and legs seeming too heavy because of his small stature. His face was still handsome even though it was a little puffy now due to his life of idleness. He still took great pains with his narrow moustache. He looked about his actual age. He was wearing grey trousers, a heavy blue overcoat, and a round hat. He even had a watch with a silver chain on ...

— L'Assommoir • Emile Zola

... day, and made his thirty miles. When he was hungry, he asked some one he met for food. It is not likely that any one would refuse the smiling, handsome boy, from whose face innocence simply shone. But if any one had refused him, it would not have annoyed Stanislaus. His good humor came from heaven, as well as from his own cheery soul - and you cannot rebuff that kind ...

— For Greater Things: The story of Saint Stanislaus Kostka • William T. Kane, S.J.

... attract moneyed strangers to frequent our Capital?"—some guess, that was Friedrich's thought. "At all events, it is a handsome piece of equipage, for a musical King and People; not to be neglected in the circumstances. Thalia, in general,—let us not neglect Thalia, in such a dearth of worshipable objects." Nor did he neglect Thalia. The trouble Friedrich took with his Opera, with ...

— History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Vol. XIV. (of XXI.) • Thomas Carlyle

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