embellish
/ɪmˈbɛlɪʃ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 2.55 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To make more beautiful and attractive by adding ornamentation; to decorate.
verb
To make something sound or look better or more acceptable than it is in reality; to distort, embroider, or even misrepresent or lie.
Example Sentences
- "The old book cover was embellished with golden letters"
- "He was a notable patron of the arts who lavishly embellished his royal residences and rebuilt and enlarged Westminster Abbey, destined as the burialplace of himself and many of his successors, in honor of his patron saint, Edward the Confessor."
- "A Scythian Shepherd, so imbelliſhed With Natures pride, and richeſt furniture? His looks do menace heauen & dare the Gods, His fiery eies are fixt vpon the earth."
- "Podolski gave Walcott a chance to further embellish Arsenal's first-half performance when he eluded James Perch and slipped the ball through to the striker."
- "to embellish a story, the truth"
Etymology
From Middle English embelishen, from Old French embellir, from em- + bel.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: embelishen, embellir