embellish

em·bel·lish  (m-blsh)

tr.v. em·bel·lished, em·bel·lish·ing, em·bel·lish·es

1. To make beautiful, as by ornamentation; decorate.

2. To add ornamental or fictitious details to: a fanciful account that embellishes the true story.

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[Middle English embelishen, from Old French embellir, embelliss- : en-, causative pref.; see en-¹ + bel, beautiful (from Latin bellus; see deu-² in Indo-European roots).]

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em·bellish·er n.

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embellish

Verb

1. to make (something) more attractive by adding decorations

2. to make (a story) more interesting by adding details which may not be true [Old French embelir]

embellishment n

Thesaurus

Verb	1.	embellish - add details to aggrandise, aggrandize, pad, embroider, lard, dramatise, dramatize, blow up glorify - cause to seem more splendid; "You are glorifying a rather mediocre building" exaggerate, hyperbolise, hyperbolize, overstate, amplify, magnify, overdraw - to enlarge beyond bounds or the truth; "tended to romanticize and exaggerate this `gracious Old South' imagery"
	2.	embellish - be beautiful to look at; "Flowers adorned the tables everywhere" deck, decorate, grace, adorn, beautify be - have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun); "John is rich"; "This is not a good answer" ornament - be an ornament to; "stars ornamented the Christmas tree"
	3.	embellish - make more attractive by adding ornament, colour, etc.; "Decorate the room for the party"; "beautify yourself for the special day" adorn, decorate, grace, ornament, beautify alter, change, modify - cause to change; make different; cause a transformation; "The advent of the automobile may have altered the growth pattern of the city"; "The discussion has changed my thinking about the issue" wreathe - decorate or deck with wreaths; "wreathe the grave site" incrust, encrust, beset - decorate or cover lavishly (as with gems) braid - decorate with braids or ribbons; "braid a collar" broider, embroider - decorate with needlework stick - cover and decorate with objects that pierce the surface; "stick some feathers in the turkey before you serve it" illustrate - supply with illustrations; "illustrate a book with drawings" garland - adorn with bands of flowers or leaves; "They garlanded the statue" fledge, flight - decorate with feathers; "fledge an arrow" bespangle, spangle - decorate with spangles; "the star-spangled banner" foliate - decorate with leaves flag - decorate with flags; "the building was flagged for the holiday" bard, barde, caparison, dress up - put a caparison on; "caparison the horses for the festive occasion" bead - decorate by sewing beads onto; "bead the wedding gown" pipe - trim with piping; "pipe the skirt" applique - sew on as a decoration gild the lily, paint the lily - adorn unnecessarily (something that is already beautiful) vermiculate - decorate with wavy or winding lines smock - embellish by sewing in straight lines crossing each other diagonally; "The folk dancers wore smocked shirts" hang - decorate or furnish with something suspended; "Hang wallpaper" prank - dress or decorate showily or gaudily; "Roses were pranking the lawn" tinsel - adorn with tinsel; "snow flakes tinseled the trees" tart up - decorate in a cheap and flashy way; "the small-town bar was all tarted up" stucco - decorate with stucco work; "stuccoed ceilings" redecorate - redo the decoration of an apartment or house panel - decorate with panels; "panel the walls with wood" bejewel, jewel - adorn or decorate with precious stones; "jeweled dresses" filet, fillet - decorate with a lace of geometric designs scallop - decorate an edge with scallops; "the dress had a scalloped skirt" bedizen - decorate tastelessly dress ship - decorate a ship with flags garnish, trim, dress - decorate (food), as with parsley or other ornamental foods trim - decorate, as with ornaments; "trim the christmas tree"; "trim a shop window" bedeck, bedight, deck - decorate; "deck the halls with holly" festoon - decorate with strings of flowers; "The public buildings were festooned for the holiday" enamel - coat, inlay, or surface with enamel inlay - decorate the surface of by inserting wood, stone, and metal lacquer - coat with lacquer; "A lacquered box from China" begild, engild, gild - decorate with, or as if with, gold leaf or liquid gold illuminate - add embellishments and paintings to (medieval manuscripts) blazon, emblazon - decorate with heraldic arms emblazon, colour, color - decorate with colors; "color the walls with paint in warm tones" fringe - adorn with a fringe; "The weaver fringed the scarf" fret - decorate with an interlaced design landscape - embellish with plants; "Let's landscape the yard" ornament - be an ornament to; "stars ornamented the Christmas tree"
	4.	embellish - make more beautiful beautify, fancify, prettify neaten, groom - care for one's external appearance; "He is always well-groomed" groom, curry, dress - give a neat appearance to; "groom the dogs"; "dress the horses" ameliorate, improve, meliorate, amend, better - to make better; "The editor improved the manuscript with his changes" window-dress, dress up - make something appear superficially attractive; "The researcher tried to dress up the uninteresting data"; "Don't try to dress up the unpleasant truth" slick up, smarten up, spiff up, spruce, spruce up, titivate, tittivate - make neat, smart, or trim; "Spruce up your house for Spring"; "titivate the child" polish, smooth, smoothen, shine - make (a surface) shine; "shine the silver, please"; "polish my shoes" become, suit - enhance the appearance of; "Mourning becomes Electra"; "This behavior doesn't suit you!"

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embellish

verb 1. decorate, enhance, adorn, dress, grace, deck, trim, dress up, enrich, garnish, ornament, gild, festoon, bedeck, tart up (slang) beautify

2. elaborate, colour, exaggerate, dress up, embroider, varnish

Translations

embellish [ɪmˈbɛlɪʃ] vt → embellecer;

(fig) [+ story, truth]; adornar

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embellish [ɪmˈbɛlɪʃ] vt → embellir; enjoliver

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embellish [ɪmˈbɛlɪʃ] vt (account) → ausschmücken;

to be embellished with → geschmückt sein mit

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embellish [ɪmˈbɛlɪʃ] vt → abbellire;

to embellish (with) (fig) [+ story, truth]; infiorare (con)