preen

en-verb

preen (third-person singular simple present preens, present participle preening, simple past and past participle preened)

preens (present singular third-person)
preening (participle present)
preened (participle past)
preened (past)

Variant of prune (by influence of preen above). Attested in Chaucer (c. 1395) in the variants preyneth, prayneth, proyneth, prunyht, pruneth, from Old French proignier (“to trim the feathers with the beak”).

der

Mr Kernan halted and preened himself before the sloping mirror of Peter Kennedy, hairdresser. Stylish coat, beyond a doubt. Scott of Dawson street. Well worth the half sovereign I gave Neary for it.

(of people, intransitive, reflexive) To spend time making oneself attractive and admiring one's appearance, e.g. in front of a mirror.

šlechtit se

to spend time making oneself attractive and admiring one's appearance (of people)

He brushed and preened the marquis, front and back. “Lucky we are, Your Grace, no gashes that I see. But the beard is in a woeful state —”

2011, Brennan Pursell, The Spanish Match, page 26:

Clearly this is not heritage tourism development. Instead it recommends how to preen the city for the uncritical gaze of a kind of tourist who willingly accepts low-grade commercialized leisure.

2011, Dean MacCannell, The Ethics of Sightseeing, page 200:

He'd built a lodge and preened the country, and imported or otherwise attracted the game, and then found that no one came.

A piece of human debris, usually plucked up and disposed of by the group of volunteers who pruned and preened the woods on a weekly basis.

(transitive, more generally) To improve the appearance of; groom; prettify.


gorge

en-adj

gorge (comparative more gorge, superlative most gorge)

more gorge (comparative)
most gorge (superlative)

Clipping of gorge(ous); originally British slang.

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-gorge.wav

Oh, look at him: isn’t he gorge?

"Um, Hadley? Don't tell me that's another new outfit. It's totally gorge!” Sofia stopped me in the middle of the hallway to admire the clothes I'd meticulously picked out that morning.

2013, Brittany [Lyn] Geragotelis, chapter 1, in Life’s a Witch, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster BFYR, →ISBN, page 19:

While she's [Katy Perry's] been hard at work on her singing and choreography, designers have been hard at work coming up with the most gorge, glam, and fabulous costumes for her to wear on stage.

2014 May 5, “Katy Perry Reveals Her Prismatic World Tour Costumes Featuring Cavalli, Valentino, & MORE!”, in PerezHilton.com, archived from the original on 2019-03-28:

Now here's a little inside scoop, I happen to adore Michelle [Visage] and she has never looked more gorge than in this episode!

2017 May 12, Carson Kressley, “RuPaul’s Drag Race Recap: ‘RuPaul Roast’”, in Entertainment Weekly, archived from the original on 2019-03-28:


decoration

en-noun

decoration (countable and uncountable, plural decorations)

/ˌdɛkəˈɹeɪʃən/

From Latin decoratio: compare French décoration.
Morphologically decorate + -ion


dolly

en-adj

dolly (comparative more dolly, superlative most dolly)

more dolly (comparative)
most dolly (superlative)

Disputed. Most scholars derive the term from doll + -y, as Etymology 1, above. Linguist Ian Hancock, however, suggests derivation from Italian dolce (“sweet”).

Divine. Sitting, sipping a tiny drinkette, vadaïng the great butch omis and dolly little palones trolling by, or disporting yourself on the sable plage getting your lallies all bronzed - your riah getting bleached by the soleil.

1967, Kenneth Horne, Bona Bijou Tourettes (Round the Horne), season 3, episode 12:

She minces past the brandy latch / to vada dolly dish for trade, silly / with oomph and taste to park.

2015 October 12, Adam Lowe, “Poem of the week: Vada That”, in The Guardian:


deck

From Middle English dekke, borrowed from Middle Dutch dec (“roof, covering”), from Middle Dutch decken, from Old Dutch thecken, from Proto-West Germanic *þakkjan, from Proto-Germanic *þakjaną. Formed the same: German Decke (“covering, blanket”). Doublet of thatch and thack.

rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic

shuffle the chairs on the deck of the Titanic

Wily carp are quickly put on their guard by tight lines cutting through the water, so another common measure is to use a back lead to keep the line on the deck.

2012, Peter Kaminsky, Greg Schwipps, “Part IV: Now You're Fishing”, in Fishing for Dummies, UK edition, Adapted by Dominic Garnett, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., page 298:

(British, fishing) The bottom of a water body.


deck

en-verb

deck (third-person singular simple present decks, present participle decking, simple past and past participle decked)

decks (present singular third-person)
decking (participle present)
decked (participle past)
decked (past)

From Middle English dekken, from Middle Dutch dekken (“to cover”), from Old Dutch thecken, from Proto-West Germanic *þakkjan, from Proto-Germanic *þakjaną (“to roof; cover”).

der

And deck my body in gay ornaments, / And witch sweet ladies with my words and looks.

c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:

Decke thy selfe now with Maiestie, and excellencie, and aray thy selfe with glory, and beautie.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Job 40:10:

They call beautiful a dress, a dog, a sermon; and when they are face to face with Beauty cannot recognise it. The false emphasis with which they try to deck their worthless thoughts blunts their susceptibilities.

1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, “chapter 39”, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […], →OCLC:

(transitive, sometimes with out) To dress (someone) up, to clothe with more than ordinary elegance.


hag

From Middle English hagge, hegge (“demon, old woman”), shortening of Old English hægtesse, hægtes (“harpy, witch”), from Proto-West Germanic *hagatussjā. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Häkse (“witch”), Dutch heks, German Hexe (“witch”). Doublet of hex.

Flamma lambentes (or those we call Haggs) are made of Sweat or some other Vapour issuing out of the Head; a not-unusuall sight amongst us when we ride by night in the Summer time: They are extinguisht, like flames, by shaking the Horse Mains

1656, Thomas White, Peripateticall Institutions, page 149:

(obsolete) An appearance of light and fire on a horse's mane or a person's hair.


resemblance

en-noun

resemblance (countable and uncountable, plural resemblances)

From Anglo-Norman resemblance, from Old French (compare French ressemblance).
Morphologically resemble + -ance.

His wife and sister had too many points of resemblance, not to entertain a strong and mutual dislike.

1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “(please specify the page)”, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, →OCLC, pages 16–17:


scraggy

en-adj

scraggy (comparative scraggier, superlative scraggiest)

scraggier (comparative)
scraggiest (superlative)

Her tender arms the angry sharpness rue
Of many a scraggy thorn and envious brier;

c. 1890, William Dean Howells, Tennyson, stanza 18:

[H]e grasped the rock. It was scraggy, and though it tore and bruised him he clung to it.

1894, Gilbert Parker, chapter 10, in The Trail of The Sword:


sheen

en-noun

sheen (countable and uncountable, plural sheens)

From Middle English shene, schene, from Old English sċīene (“beautiful, fair, bright, brilliant, light”), from Proto-West Germanic *skaunī, from Proto-Germanic *skauniz (“beautiful”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewh₁-.
Cognate with Scots schene, scheine (“beautiful, fair, attractive”), Saterland Frisian skeen (“clean, pure”), West Frisian skjin (“nice, clean”), Dutch schoon (“clean, beautiful, fair”), German schön (“beautiful”), Danish skøn (“beautiful”), Norwegian Bokmål skjønn (“beautiful”), Norwegian Nynorsk skjønn (“beautiful”), Swedish skön (“beautiful, fine”). Compare also the loanword Finnish kaunis (“beautiful”). See also English show.

inh

There is a greenish sheen across the shoulders of his greasy black suit, for the morning light has of a sudden begun to dance through the bay window.

Mr. Leerhsen said in an interview that he wanted to write a book without the dutiful sheen of what he called “an official Bourdain product.”

2022 September 27, Kim Severson, “The Last, Painful Days of Anthony Bourdain”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(also figuratively) Splendor; radiance; shininess.


splendid

en-adj

splendid (comparative splendider or more splendid, superlative splendidest or most splendid)

splendider (comparative)
more splendid (comparative)
splendidest (superlative)
most splendid (superlative)

From Latin splendidus, from splendere (“to shine”) + -idus (“adjective forming suffix”).

suffix

a splendid palace

a splendid procession

a splendid pageant

Gorgeous; magnificent; sumptuous; of remarkable beauty.


tasty

en-adj

tasty (comparative tastier, superlative tastiest)

tastier (comparative)
tastiest (superlative)

From taste + -y.
The Philippine sense is due to a genericized trademark from Taystee Bread Company, a defunct American company.

Country fans probably remember Stu best for a tasty tune he wrote and recorded but didn't want released.

1990, Wayne Jancik, The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders, →ISBN, page 5:

(slang) Appealing; when applied to persons, sexually appealing.


shaggy

shaggy (comparative shaggier, superlative shaggiest)

shaggier (comparative)
shaggiest (superlative)

a shaggy dog

They waited until Dorothy awoke the next morning. The little girl was quite frightened when she saw the great pile of shaggy wolves, but the Tin Woodman told her all. She thanked him for saving them and sat down to breakfast, after which they started again upon their journey.

1900 May 17, L[yman] Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Chicago, Ill.; New York, N.Y.: Geo[rge] M[elvin] Hill Co., →OCLC:

Away from the village, there was an enclosure containing several large animals of a kind I had not seen before—shaggy, long-necked, small-headed creatures who stood or lay at ease around their pen. Alpacas?

1989, Octavia E. Butler, “Part III, Chapter 7”, in Imago, page 210:

Having long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur or wool.

kalesh

with long, thick, and uncombed hair, fur, or wool


showy

showy (comparative showier, superlative showiest)

showier (comparative)
showiest (superlative)

showy flowers

Making a striking or aesthetically pleasing display.

auffällig

making a striking or aesthetically pleasing display


Bond girl

Sam scowled. 'I hate villains who call me Miss Jones,' she told him. 'It makes me feel like a Bond girl.'

1998, Justin Richards, chapter 12, in Option Lock, page 232:

When a lunch companion suggested that she might not want to take the Halle Berry route should she be nominated for an Oscar for "Monster," and win — soul-searching performance followed by a turn as a Bond girl — Theron threw her head back and howled.

One of the beautiful, seductive young women who appear in James Bond movies.


drab

en-noun

drab (countable and uncountable, plural drabs)

Probably from Middle French and Old French drap (“cloth”), either:
* from Late Latin drappus (“drabcloth, kerchief; piece of cloth”), most likely from Gaulish *drappo, from Proto-Indo-European *drep- (“to scratch, tear”); or
* from Frankish *drapi, *drāpi (“that which is fulled, drabcloth”), from Proto-Germanic *drap-, *drēp- (“something beaten”), from *drepaną (“to beat, strike”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrebʰ- (“to beat, crush; to make or become thick”).
The English word is cognate with Ancient Greek δρέπω (drépō, “to pluck”), Avestan 𐬛𐬭𐬀𐬟𐬱𐬀 (drafša, “banner, flag”), Lithuanian drãpanos (“household linens”), Old Norse trefja (“to rub, wear out”), trof (“fringes”), Sanskrit द्रापि (drāpi, “mantle, gown”), Serbo-Croatian drápati (“to scratch, scrape”)).

cog

The slimy little causeway had dropped into the river by a slow process of suicide, and two or three stumps of piles and a rusty iron mooring-ring were all that remained of the departed Break-Neck glories. [...] [T]hrough three-fourths of its rising tides the dirty indecorous drab of a river would come solitarily oozing and lapping at the rusty ring, [...]

1867 December 12, Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, “No Thoroughfare”, in Charles Dickens, editor, All The Year Round: Extra Christmas Number, London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, Act I, page 3, column 2:

Watership Down review – CGI rabbits can't save this Christmas turkey. The 1970s cartoon traumatised generations of children, but the new version is tame, drab and deeply unsatisfying. What, really, was the point?

2018 December 23, Lucy Mangan, “WatershipDown review - CGI rabbits can't save this Christmas turkey”, in The Guardian:

A drab office block sandwiched between a pub and a branch of Starbucks was a secret base of spy agency GCHQ, it has been confirmed. The anonymous building opposite St James's Park Tube station in central London was used by British spooks for 66 years.

2019 April 5, Joseph Lee, “Drab London office block was GCHQ spy base”, in BBC:

(by extension) A dull or uninteresting appearance or situation, unremarkable.


bombshell

Diana Dors, the 1950s blonde bombshell

The singer once identified by her shock of green hair has gone blonde and full bombshell, swapping her trademark sweats for a style more domme than deb: pink Gucci corset and skirt over Agent Provocateur skivvies, accessorized with latex gloves and leggings.

2021 May 4, Ruth La Ferla, “On That Bombshell Billie Eilish Cover for British Vogue”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(by extension) Someone who is very attractive; a sex symbol.


decorate

en-verb

decorate (third-person singular simple present decorates, present participle decorating, simple past and past participle decorated)

decorates (present singular third-person)
decorating (participle present)
decorated (participle past)
decorated (past)

From Latin decoratus, past participle of decorare (“to adorn, distinguish, honor”), from decus (“ornament, grace, dignity, honor”), akin to decor (“elegance, grace, beauty, ornament”), from decet (“adorn, befit”).

There's some paint left over from when we decorated the guest bedroom.

(transitive) To improve the appearance of an interior of, as a house, room, or office.

ремонтирам

to improve the appearance of a house, room, office and so forth


purdy

en-adj

purdy (comparative purdier, superlative purdiest)

purdier (comparative)
purdiest (superlative)

Corruption of pretty, representing the pronunciation of this word in the southern United States.

Yes sirree, you're the purdiest li'l thing I ever did see.

Why, you got a purdy mouth boy.

(US, slang and dialects, like Southern US and Appalachia) pretty.


beautify

en-verb

beautify (third-person singular simple present beautifies, present participle beautifying, simple past and past participle beautified)

beautifies (present singular third-person)
beautifying (participle present)
beautified (participle past)
beautified (past)

From Middle English beutifien, from Old French beaute (“beauty”), from Latin bellus (“beautiful, fine”), + -ify, from Latin facio (“make”).


gorgeous

en-adj

gorgeous (comparative more gorgeous, superlative most gorgeous)

more gorgeous (comparative)
most gorgeous (superlative)

From Middle English gorgeouse, a borrowing from Middle French gorgias (“elegant, fashionable”), from Old French gourgias, gorgias (“gorgeous, gaudy, flaunting, gallant, fine”), of uncertain origin, but apparently connected with Old French gorgias (“a gorget, ruffle for the neck”), from Old French gorge (“bosom, throat”). See gorge. Semantic evolution probably akin to "swelling of the throat or bosom due to pride, bridling up" to "assume an air of importance, flaunting".

cog

Hummus is absolutely gorgeous.

(rare) Very enjoyable, pleasant, tasty, etc.


butch

en-adj

butch (comparative butcher or more butch, superlative butchest or most butch)

butcher (comparative)
more butch (comparative)
butchest (superlative)
most butch (superlative)

Originally, it was probably used as an abbreviation of butcher. Later, in the 1940s, the sense “masculine lesbian” developed.

There, look, Mr. Horne! Vada that great butch lucoddy!

1967, Barry Took, Marty Feldman, Round the Horne, spoken by Sandy (Kenneth Williams):

Nor can I credit that a — to put it crudely — proud bisexual butch Italian — albeit one lonely, poor, emotional and without strong will — which Giovanni is shown to be in the earlier part of the book, should become, in a mere matter of months, and as the result of any happening, the venal hysterical fairy that he does.

1979, Colin MacInnes, Out of the way: later essays:

Then I started going out with different kinds of women, and I started feeling more like I wanted to be more butch. […] I feel much more butch than I feel femme.

1998, Kath Weston, Render Me, Gender Me: Lesbians Talk Sex, Class, Color, Nation, Studmuffins, Columbia University Press, →ISBN:

The process of appreciating a butch aesthetic may be even more complex for bisexual butch women. In contrast to lesbian butches who may date only within a butch-femme community, bisexual butch women may be more likely to […] In comparison to butch bisexual women, it may be easier for femme bisexual women to locate male and female dating partners […]

2007, Beth A. Firestein, Becoming Visible: Counseling Bisexuals Across the Lifespan, Columbia University Press, →ISBN, page 305:

More of the rotten responses I receive about being a bisexual butch woman come from other bisexuals, particularly men, who don't want to deal with any woman who is not some Barbie doll standard of femininity.

2014, Naomi S Tucker, Bisexual Politics: Theories, Queries, and Visions, Routledge, →ISBN, page 186:

"Faye got wicked buff and has a super butch haircut and it is hot as shit." "It's okay, babe. We can ogle her together."

2016, Jeph Jacques, Questionable Content (webcomic), Number 3154: Coupling:

(slang, originally Polari) Very masculine, with a masculine appearance or attitude.


camouflage

en-noun

camouflage (countable and uncountable, plural camouflages)

/ˈkæ.məˌflɑːʒ/

Unadapted borrowing from French camouflage, from camoufler (“to veil, disguise”), alteration (due to camouflet (“smoke blown in one's face”)) of Italian camuffare (“to muffle the head”), from ca- (from Italian capo (“head”)) + muffare (“to muffle”), from Medieval Latin muffula, muffla (“muff”). This Medieval Latin, from which there is also English muffle, is either derived from a Frankish *molfell (“soft garment made of hide”) from *mol (“softened, forworn”) (akin to Old High German molawēn (“to soften”), Middle High German molwic (“soft”)) + *fell (“hide, skin”), from Proto-Germanic *fellą (“skin, film, fleece”), or, an alternate etymology traces it to a Frankish *muffël (“a muff, wrap, envelope”) composed of *mauwa (“sleeve, wrap”) from Proto-Germanic *mawwō (“sleeve”) + *fell (“skin, hide”) from Proto-Germanic *fellą (“skin, film, fleece”).

der

Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close[…]above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them. Many insects probably use this strategy, which is a close analogy to crypsis in the visible world—camouflage and other methods for blending into one’s visual background.

2013 May-June, William E. Conner, “An Acoustic Arms Race”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, pages 206–7:

(biology) Resemblance of an organism to its surroundings for avoiding detection.


esthetics

en-noun

esthetics (usually uncountable, plural esthetics)

(American spelling) Alternative form of aesthetics


grotesque

en-adj

grotesque (comparative grotesquer, superlative grotesquest)

grotesquer (comparative)
grotesquest (superlative)

From Middle French grotesque (French grotesque), from Italian grottesco (“of a cave”), from grotta. Compare English grotto.

Coordinate term: baroque

The chimney-piece was of party-coloured marble, covered with figures, some of whose faces were beautiful, but generally running off into those grotesque combinations which characterised the peculiar taste of their time.

1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XV, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 114:

A Libyan longing took us, and we would have chosen, if we could, to bear a strand of grotesque beads, or a handful of brazen gauds, and traffic them for some sable maid with crisp locks, whom, uncoffling from the captive train beside the desert, we should make to do our general housework forever, through the right of lawful purchase.

1912, The World's Wit and Humor, page 176:

Some of the vehicles are, indeed, taxis, but all of them are unoccupied, and most have their doors left open. There are colossally tall darkened figures stalking down the streets, so dark and slender that Wheeler actually fails to notice them. There is screaming, a grotesque, awful screaming coming from many human mouths, coming from somewhere down the main road. But that's the only way he can go.

2019 April 10, qntm, “CASE HATE RED”, in SCP Foundation, archived from the original on 2024-05-29:

Distorted and unnatural in shape or size; abnormal, especially in a hideous way.

غَرِيب

distorted and unnatural in shape or size; abnormal and hideous


comeliness

en-noun

comeliness (usually uncountable, plural comelinesses)

From comely + -ness (“the quality of being”).

Hereat Alaeddin arose and took horse, his Mamelukes riding a-van and a-rear of him, and they were such that all must cry, "Laud to the Lord who created them and clothed them with such beauty and loveliness." And they scattered gold amongst the crowd in front of their master who surpassed them all in comeliness and seemlihead[…]

1885–1888, Richard F[rancis] Burton, transl. and editor, A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights’ Entertainments, now Entituled The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night […], Shammar edition, volume (please specify the volume), [London]: […] Burton Club […], →OCLC:

Quality of being comely; beauty, attractiveness.


skank

en-adj

skank (comparative more skank, superlative most skank)

more skank (comparative)
most skank (superlative)

Unknown. Perhaps from skag (“unattractive woman”), but the origins of skag are unknown. Compare scold (“troublesome woman”), skeevy (“disgusting”). Attested from the 1960s.

"I wear provocative clothes because they make me feel sexy," Toni says without apology. "If an artist like Madonna is wearing her booty hanging out, she's considered a genius. But if a black person does it, we're considered skank whores or sluts."

1997 June–July, Michael A. Gonzales, “Toni's secret: Miss Braxton lets it all hang out”, in Vibe, volume 5, number 5, New York, N.Y.: Time Publishing Ventures; Intermedia Vibe Holdings, →ISSN, page 92:

You can even be a wee bit more skank and don a dirty shirt. Unwashed underwear, however, is a no-go.

2001, Angela Nissel, The Broke Diaries, →ISBN, page 49:

(derogatory, slang) Lewd, vulgar, skanky.


homely

homely (comparative homelier or more homely, superlative homeliest or most homely)

homelier (comparative)
more homely (comparative)
homeliest (superlative)
most homely (superlative)

From Middle English homly, hoomly, hamely (“domestic, familiar, plain, unattractive”), from Old English *hāmlīċ (“of the home, domestic”), from Proto-West Germanic *haimalīk (“of or characteristic of home”), equivalent to home + -ly. Cognate with Scots hamely (“familiar, personal, private”), West Frisian heimelik, Dutch heimelijk (“secret, secretive, clandestine”), German heimlich (“secret, secretive, clandestine, undercover”), Danish hemmelig (“secret”), Swedish hemlig (“secret, concealed, privy, covert”), Faroese heimligur (“homelike, homey”), Icelandic heimlegur (“homely; worldly”).

cog

There is none so homely but loves a looking-glass.

1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London:

"I can't send a young, pretty girl, or for that matter even a homely one if you'd have her, on a job like this without telling her what to expect."

1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 6:

You see, she sees herself as a starlet; I see her as a sturdy, healthy but decidedly homely kid.

1958, Vladimir Nabokov, chapter 15, in Lolita:

(Canada, US) Lacking in beauty or elegance, plain in appearance, physically unattractive.


unkempt

en-adj

unkempt (comparative more unkempt, superlative most unkempt)

more unkempt (comparative)
most unkempt (superlative)

From earlier unkembed, unkemmed, from Middle English unkempt (“uncombed”), equivalent to un- + kempt. Compare Old Norse úkembdr (uncombed; unkempt"; > Icelandic ókembdur), German ungekämmt (“unkempt”), Dutch ongekamd. More at kemb.

gloss

uncombed; unkempt"; > Icelandic <i class="Latn mention" lang="is">ókembdur</i>

Men on cycles, lean-faced, unkempt, scorched along every country lane, shouting of unhoped deliverance, shouting to gaunt, staring figures of despair.

1898, H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, page 289:


spiffy

en-adj

spiffy (comparative spiffier, superlative spiffiest)

spiffier (comparative)
spiffiest (superlative)

Unknown. Attested in print from 1852 (see quotations below). Compare the noun spiff, attested from 1859, as well as spiffing (1872) and spiffed (1881), suggesting participle forms of a related verb. Compare also spiv (“a smartly-dressed criminal”), attested from the 20th century.

He was “great” (as he expressed it) with the Bloomer who kept the bar where their club was held, and whom he styled “a spiffy girl,” and who had been graciously pleased to accept of a pair of very Brummagem-looking earrings, set with paste diamonds, with which he had presented her.

1852, “How Jeremiah Tubbs became engaged in the Irish elections of 1852”, in New Monthly Magazine and Humorist, page 66:

The charming twins came last week, and you should see their clothes. ‘Spiffy’ is the word.

1906 August 26, “Newport News in London”, in The New York Times, page 9:

(informal) Dapper; fine or neat, especially in style of clothing or other appearance.


crow's feet

Wrinkles at the outer corners of the eye.

potes de gall

wrinkles at the outer corners of the eye


eye candy

From eye + candy. Early-1980’s US TV and advertising jargon, perhaps influenced by earlier nose candy (“cocaine”).

I'm going to the beach to check out some eye candy.

But despite his claims that NBC would become “the class act,” not all of [Fred] Silverman's changes seemed aimed in direction of excellence. Unfortunately his rationale for eschewing exploitative “eye candy” seemed to apply to more serious sex-related ventures as well.

1980, Geoffrey Cowan, See No Evil, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 309:

A very attractive person or persons, or the salient visible physical attributes thereof.

DirectX 10 promises an almost obscene step up in the level of eye candy you can expect from an A-list game, which is the great news. The bad news is, you'll need a new videocard to get those gorgeous graphics.

2007, Maximum PC, number Winter, page 3:

(by extension) Any object or sight with considerable visual appeal.


radiant

radiant (comparative more radiant, superlative most radiant)

more radiant (comparative)
most radiant (superlative)

From Middle English radyant, from Latin radiāns, radiantis, present participle of radiāre (“to emit rays or beams”).

(botany) Having a ray-like appearance, like the large marginal flowers of certain umbelliferous plants; said also of the cluster which has such marginal flowers.


beaut

That new car of yours is a real beaut.

(informal) Something or someone that is physically attractive.


beaut

beaut (comparative beauter, superlative beautest)

beauter (comparative)
beautest (superlative)

An' there was posies all round Jim, He had a bran new suit, The first un that he ever had, An' everything was beaut. An' when the preacher told 'bout Jim— How ' twas he got the swipe— I saw most all them dandy swells A feelin' fer a wipe.

1895, Elbridge Kingsley, Frederick Knab, Picturesque Worcester ...: Complete in Three Parts, page 40:

It was beaut to have him home again, and gee, you should have seen the bike he bought me from Paris. From the same factory as his own was made.

She was very motherly towards me then and it was beaut. Before I was eighteen, there just wasn't any kind words. All I wanted to do was get away from there.

1978, Kevin Gilbert, Living Black: Blacks Talk to Kevin Gilbert:

Yes, it was beaut.

1996, Madeleine St. John, A Pure Clear Light, 4th Estate, Limited:

(informal, especially Australia) Beautiful, splendid.


plain

plain (comparative plainer, superlative plainest)

plainer (comparative)
plainest (superlative)

From Middle English pleyn, borrowed from Anglo-Norman pleyn, playn, Middle French plain, plein, and Old French plain, from Latin plānus (“flat, even, level, plain”). Doublet of llano, piano, and plane.

der

Yet her beauty clung to her like an identity she was trying to deny and her plainness kept slipping like a bad disguise.

Throughout high school she worried that she had a rather plain face.


beautification

en-noun

beautification (countable and uncountable, plural beautifications)

Attested since at least 1790, from beautify (“to make beautiful”) + -ification.

suffix

Thanks to the beautification efforts, the appearance of the highway has vastly improved.

Making beautiful, beautifying, improving the appearance of something.


pallid

en-adj

pallid (comparative pallider, superlative pallidest)

pallider (comparative)
pallidest (superlative)

The patient left the hospital but was very pallid.


untidy

untidy (comparative untidier, superlative untidiest)

untidier (comparative)
untidiest (superlative)

His finances were in an untidy state when he died.

There were many wooden chairs for the bulk of his visitors, and two wicker armchairs with red cloth cushions for superior people. From the packing-cases had emerged some Indian clubs,[…], and all these articles[…] made a scattered and untidy decoration that Mrs. Clough assiduously dusted and greatly cherished.

1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:


aesthete

From Ancient Greek αἰσθητής (aisthētḗs, “one who perceives”).

der

I prefer to think of [literature] as providing a discipline of the sensibility—a special way of apprehending reality. But though I prefer such a conception, it gives rise to all sorts of misunderstandings […] To define literature in this fashion is to risk being called a mere aesthete and even an ecapist who refuses to face the harsh facts of life.

a. 1994, Cleanth Brooks, “English Literature: A Subject Matter? A Discipline? A Special Amalgam?”, in Community, Religion, Literature, published 1995, →ISBN, page 184:

Because what the aesthete does is to say, “oh, I can transform any unpleasant experience into a moment of beauty.”

2000, Tom Huhn, “The Anatomy of Beauty”, in Michael Tobias, J. Patrick Fitzgerald, David Rothenberg, editors, A Parliament of Minds: Philosophy for a New Millennium, page 237:

Although Stanley was the political operator while Pick was the aesthete, it was Stanley who made the early running in Underground design.

2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page 159:

Since the days of Søren Kierkegaard, aesthetics – by him termed the aesthetic that is worshipped by the aesthete – has been accused of subjectivism and relativism. An aesthete is allegedly characterized by finding sensuous pleasure in particular phenomena, and by being different from the ethicist or the religious person in being unable to recognize or commit himself to anything universal.

2015, Dorthe Jørgensen, “Sensoriness and Transcendence: On the Aesthetic Possibility of Experiencing Divinity”, in Svein Aage Christoffersen et al., editors, Transcendence and Sensoriness: Perceptions, Revelation, and the Arts, →ISBN, page 68:

(often derogatory) Someone who cultivates an unusually high sensitivity to beauty, as in art or nature, often in a manner perceived to prioritize beauty over other qualities such as virtue and utility.

esteta

someone who cultivates an unusually high sensitivity to beauty, as in art or nature


dowdy

en-adj

dowdy (comparative dowdier, superlative dowdiest)

dowdier (comparative)
dowdiest (superlative)

Late 16th century. Origin uncertain: probably literally “little poorly dressed woman,” formed from doue, “poorly dressed woman.”
Possibly also related to the Scots dow, meaning to "fade".

[...she was] a perfect saint amongst women, but so dreadfully dowdy that she reminded one of a badly bound hymn-book.

1891, Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, London, New York, N.Y., Melbourne, Vic.: Ward Lock & Co., →OCLC:

Lacking stylishness or neatness; shabby.


good-looking

good-looking (comparative better-looking or more good-looking, superlative best-looking or most good-looking)

better-looking (comparative)
more good-looking (comparative)
best-looking (superlative)
most good-looking (superlative)

/ˈɡʊdˈlʊk.ɪŋ/

From good + looking. Compare Dutch goeduitziend (“good-looking”), German gutaussehend (“good-looking”).

When one of us sees a good-looking guy, we nudge the other one and smile. One guy had the most gorgeous face I had ever seen. Every time we go to the mall we look around for 'that guy' just in case.

2001, Julia DeVillers, Teen Girlfriends:


fearsome

fearsome (comparative more fearsome, superlative most fearsome)

more fearsome (comparative)
most fearsome (superlative)

From fear + -some. Compare German furchtsam (“fearful”, obsolete also “fearsome”), which this is more closely equivalent to English frightsome, however.


bobby-dazzler

From bobby + dazzler. Unknown. Originated in 19th century in the dialects of Lancashire and Yorkshire.

Suddenly she appeared in the inner doorway rather shyly. She had got a new cotton blouse on. Paul jumped up and went forward.
"Oh, my stars!" he exclaimed. "What a bobby-dazzler!"
She sniffed in a little haughty way, and put her head up.
"It's not a bobby-dazzler at all!" she replied. "It's very quiet."

1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “chapter 6”, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC:

(informal, chiefly British and Australian) An attractive or excellent thing or person.


coyote ugly

A girl was coyote ugly if, when a man got too drunk, picked her up, took her to bed, and woke up with her asleep on his arm in the morning, he'd chew his arm off to escape without waking her up.

2003, Georgina Gentry, To Tame A Texan, Zebra Books, →ISBN:

Poodles, Pomeranians, those uglier than coyote ugly Pugs, Chihuahuas—you name it, he'd been in a cage with the fuckers, fighting for his right to a stupid rubber hot dog coated in beef broth while he waited for Gustav to milk his renal glands.

2009, Dakota Cassidy, Kiss & Hell, Penguin, →ISBN:

Crocs are coyote ugly. Some people like the Crocs clog style; others simply hate it.

2011, Howard Lindzon, Philip Pearlman, Ivaylo Ivanhoff, The StockTwits Edge, Enhanced Edition, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 56:

(US, slang, derogatory, originally applied to women) Very ugly.


belle

From French belle (“beautiful”), from Latin bella.

In her new dress she felt like the belle of the ball.


ornate

en-adj

ornate (comparative more ornate, superlative most ornate)

more ornate (comparative)
most ornate (superlative)

Learned borrowing from Latin ōrnātus, perfect passive participle of ōrnō (“to equip, adorn”), see -ate (adjective-forming suffix). Doublet of orné.


bedraggled

bedraggled (comparative more bedraggled, superlative most bedraggled)

more bedraggled (comparative)
most bedraggled (superlative)

/bɪˈdɹæɡl̩d/

A low rumbling sound was heard; a subterraneous hum; and then all held their breaths; as bedraggled with trailing ropes, and harpoons, and lances, a vast form shot lengthwise, but obliquely from the sea.

1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “The Chase.—Third Day.”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 627:

She came at night, and in a storm, with only two attendants, and stood before a peasant’s hut, tired, bedraggled, soaked with rain, “the red print of her lost crown still girdling her brow,” and implored admittance—and was refused!

1880, Mark Twain [pseudonym] (Samuel L[anghorne] Clemens), “”, in A Tramp Abroad; […], Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Company; London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC, pages 532 and 535:

No three tramps that one could have met in a Surrey lane could have looked more hopeless and bedraggled.

1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, chapter XIV, in The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:

As a rule he was neat in his person, but now his clothes were in disorder. He looked suddenly bedraggled. I was convinced he had been drinking, and I smiled.

1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, chapter XXVIII, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […], →OCLC:

Finally delivering “Room on Fire,” the follow-up to their much ballyhooed debut album, the well-heeled but stylishly bedraggled locals try to dispel accusations of one-trick-ponyism.


outlook

From out + look. Perhaps influenced by Chinese 外表 (literally “outside + surface”) and English look (“appearance”). Same etymology as Cantonese outlook.

ncog

How ignorant you are! Admiring the outlook of a same sex person has nothing to do with gay! Some of my male friends admire Andy Lau's and Leslie Cheung's looks quite a lot, but unfortunately, they are NOT gay, not BI, they are totally STRAIGHT!

1996 March 14, Bugs, soc.culture.hongkong.entertainment (Usenet):

Well, first impression strikes. The other half must be somewhat attractive on the outlook to capture you attention ...... how else would you noptice^([sic]) his/her existance?^([sic]) Agree?

1996 July 8, JT, soc.culture.hongkong.entertainment (Usenet):

Find some wooden block under the box to separate it with the ground, do the same to the wire if possible. But the wood is another concern then. May be get a concrete brick la if you can accept its outlook.

1998 July 10, Felix M.C. Li, hk.rec.audio-visual (Usenet):

If you accept the sound of Emsemble^([sic]) Reference. I am sure you will like Primaddona^([sic]) Gold. The Primaddona^([sic]) Gold is much better than the Reference in every aspect. The only draw back is probably the out-look, some people, including my mother, said it look like a coffin.

1998 December 19, and...@my-dejanews.com, hk.rec.audio-visual (Usenet):

Walla-walla was at first nick-named by the European passengers as the engine of the vessel was very noisy. The outlook of the walla-walla (Class 1 motorboat) did not change much in the past decades. The wooden hull, the below-loadline cabin (ie without deck) and the engine in the front part of the cabin were characteristics of these boats.

2000 November 28, Choi Kim Lui, “The Development of Motorboat Services in Hong Kong”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name):

(Hong Kong, colloquial) look; appearance


tidy

en-adj

tidy (comparative tidier, superlative tidiest)

tidier (comparative)
tidiest (superlative)

From Middle English tidy, tydy, tidi (“timely, seasonal, opportune”), from tide (“time”) + -y. Cognate with Saterland Frisian tiedig (“timely, early”), Dutch tijdig (“timely”), German Low German tiedig (“timely”), German zeitig (“seasonal, timely”), Danish tidig (“timely”), Swedish tidig (“timely”).

cog

if weather be fair and tidy

1573, Thomas Tusser, Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry:

(obsolete) In good time; at the right time; timely; seasonable; opportune; favourable; fit; suitable.


dishevelled

en-adj

dishevelled (comparative more dishevelled, superlative most dishevelled)

more dishevelled (comparative)
most dishevelled (superlative)

From earlier dishevely, from Old French deschevelé (modern French déchevelé and échevelé), from des- (“dis-”), + chevel (“hair”) (modern French cheveu). See there for more details.

The men resided in a huge bunk house, which consisted of one room only, with a shack outside where the cooking was done. In the large room were a dozen bunks ; half of them in a very dishevelled state, […]

1913, Robert Barr, chapter 6, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad:

This is a crazy, dishevelled, often hilarious film, in which lightning flashes of wit and insight crackle periodically across a plane of tedium. I sometimes felt I was watching the 100-hour version.

2018 August 31, Peter Bradshaw, “The Other Side of the Wind review – lost Orson Welles epic is hurricane of anger and wit”, in The Guardian:

(by extension) Disorderly or untidy in appearance.


cheesecake

en-noun

cheesecake (countable and uncountable, plural cheesecakes)

desc

تْشِيز كَيْك

→ Arabic: تْشِيز كَيْك (tšīz kayk)

→ Armenian: չիզքեյք (čʻizkʻeykʻ)

→ Azerbaijani: çizkeyk

→ Bulgarian: чийзке́йк (čijzkéjk)

→ Chinese: 起士蛋糕 (qǐshì dàngāo), 起司蛋糕 (qǐsī dàngāo), 乳酪蛋糕 (rǔlào dàngāo), 芝士蛋糕 (zhīshì dàngāo) (calque)

→ French: cheesecake, cheese-cake, cheese cake

→ Greek: τσίζκεϊκ (tsízkeïk), τσιζκέικ (tsizkéik), τσεισκέικ (tseiskéik)

→ Hijazi Arabic: تشيزكيك (tšīzkēk)

→ Hindi: चीज़केक (cīzkek)

→ Indonesian: cheesecake

→ Italian: cheesecake

→ Japanese: チーズケーキ (chīzukēki)

→ Kannada: ಚೀಜ಼್ಕೇಕ್ (cīzkēk)

→ Korean: 치즈케이크 (chijeukeikeu)

→ Mongolian: чийзкэйк (čiizkejk)

→ Persian: چیز کیک (čiz keyk)

→ Portuguese: cheesecake

→ Romanian: cheesecake

→ Russian: чи́зкейк (čízkejk), чизке́йк (čizkéjk)

→ Spanish: cheesecake

→ Swedish: cheesecake

→ Ukrainian: чізкейк (čizkejk)

From Middle English chesekake; equivalent to cheese + cake. Compare chess cake.

Company policy forbids displaying cheesecake in the locker rooms.

She was turning back toward the cameraman when she caught the pose of the filing clerk who was sitting on the corner of the desk with her skirt over her knees, her toes pointed down so that her crossed legs showed to advantage.
"Now what the hell are you doing sitting there sticking that nylon out at the camera?" Bertha asked.
(...) A man who had been standing over behind the filing case came out and said, "We're going to need cheesecake, Mrs. Cool. If we don't have cheesecake, the papers won't publish it."

(uncountable) Imagery of scantily clad, sexually attractive young women; pin-ups.


splendor

en-noun

splendor (usually uncountable, plural splendors)

From Anglo-Norman splendur, splendour, or directly from its source Latin splendor, from the verb splendere (“to shine”).

The splendor of the Queen's coronation was without comparison.

The original family who had begun to build a palace to rival Nonesuch had died out before they had put up little more than the gateway, so that the actual structure which had come down to posterity retained the secret magic of a promise rather than the overpowering splendour of a great architectural achievement.

1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 1, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

Magnificent appearance, display or grandeur.


likeness

From Middle English liknesse, from Old English līcness, ġelīcnes (“the quality of being like or equal; likeness; image; copy; pattern; example; parable”), from Proto-West Germanic *galīkanassī (“likeness”), equivalent to like + -ness.
Cognate with West Frisian likenis (“likeness”), Dutch gelijkenis (“similarity; likeness; parable”), German Low German Glieknis (“form; semblance; likeness; parable”), German Gleichnis (“form; semblance; image; likeness; parable; simile”). The verb is derived from the noun. Compare also Old Norse líkneskja (“figure, image, appearance, likeness”).

noncog

A foe in the likeness of a friend

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.


resemble

en-verb

resemble (third-person singular simple present resembles, present participle resembling, simple past and past participle resembled)

resembles (present singular third-person)
resembling (participle present)
resembled (participle past)
resembled (past)

From Middle English resemblen, from Anglo-Norman resembler, ressembler, from re- + sembler (“to seem”). By surface analysis, re- + semble.

And th'other all yclad in garments light, / Discolour'd like to womanish disguise, / He did resemble to his Ladie bright [...].

1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto X”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

(transitive, now rare, archaic) To compare; to regard as similar, to liken.


voluptuousness

en-noun

voluptuousness (countable and uncountable, plural voluptuousnesses)


ugliness

ugliness (countable and uncountable, plural uglinesses)

His best friend would not have called him good-looking, but he was the fortunate possessor of that cheerful type of ugliness which inspires immediate confidence in its owner.

1920, Herman Cyril McNeile, chapter 1, in Bulldog Drummond:

Everything that's realistic has some sort of ugliness in it. Even a flower is ugly when it wilts, a bird when it seeks its prey, the ocean when it becomes violent. Sharon Tate


unattractive

en-adj

unattractive (comparative more unattractive, superlative most unattractive)

more unattractive (comparative)
most unattractive (superlative)


haggard

haggard (comparative more haggard, superlative most haggard)

more haggard (comparative)
most haggard (superlative)

From Middle French haggard, from Old French faulcon hagard (“wild falcon”) ( > French hagard (“dazed”)), from Middle High German hag (“coppice”) ( > archaic German Hag (“hedge, grove”)). Akin to Frankish *hagia ( > French haie (“hedge”))

Pale and haggard faces.

A gradual descent into a haggard and feeble state.

The years of hardship made her look somewhat haggard.

Staring his eyes, and haggard was his look.

1685, John Dryden, The Despairing Lover:

Then there was a pale, care-wrinkled woman, not old, but haggard, and already with streaks of gray among her hair, like silver ribbons; one of those women, naturally delicate, whom you at once recognize as worn to death by a brute—probably, a drunken brute—of a husband, and at least nine children.

1851 April 9, Nathaniel Hawthorne, The House of the Seven Gables, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields:

I looked at the morning / After being up all night / I looked at my haggard face in the bathroom light / I looked out the window / And I saw that ragged soul take flight

1976, Joni Mitchell (lyrics and music), “Black Crow”, in Hejira:

By the end of two weeks there isn't a county in England where he hasn't pledged his holiness six different ways — which is not to deny that intermittently he has visions of himself as a haggard apostle of the life renounced, converting beautiful women and millionaires to Christian poverty.

Looking exhausted, worried, or poor in condition


blemish

From Middle English blemisshen, blemissen, from Old French blemiss-, stem of Old French blemir, blesmir (“make pale, injure, wound, bruise”) (French blêmir), from Old Frankish *blesmijan, *blasmijan (“to make pale”), from Old Frankish *blasmī (“pale”), from Proto-Germanic *blasaz (“white, pale”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to shine”). Cognate with Dutch bles (“white spot”), German blass (“pale”), Old English āblered (“bare, uncovered, bald, shaven”).

cog

Ye shall offer at your own will a male without blemish, of the beeves, of the sheep, or of the goats.

1769, Oxford Standard Text, “King James Bible”, in Leviticus, 22, xix:

Any foot shape deviating from this model is conceived as a blemish, and the animal is unclean.

1997, Jean Soler, “5: The Semiotics of Food in the Bible”, in Carole Counihan, Penny Van Esterik, editors, Food and Culture: A Reader, page 61:

There are a very large number of types of blemish and the smallest blemish visible to a human can be surprisingly small, for example less than 10μm deep, which may be on the surface of a heavily embossed tile.

2003, A. K. Forrest, “Chapter 6: Surface Defect Detection on Ceramics”, in Mark Graves, Bruce Batchelor, editors, Machine Vision for the Inspection of Natural Products, page 193:

It comes as a surprise to some people, but blemishes can strike at any age. To minimize the appearance of facial blemishes or pimples, use a concealer with a dry texture; it will cling to the blemish better, last throughout the day, and not irritate the skin or initiate more breakouts.

2011, Robert Jones, Makeup Makeovers Beauty Bible: Expert Secrets for Stunning Transformations, page 119:

A small flaw which spoils the appearance of something, a stain, a spot.


blemish

en-verb

blemish (third-person singular simple present blemishes, present participle blemishing, simple past and past participle blemished)

blemishes (present singular third-person)
blemishing (participle present)
blemished (participle past)
blemished (past)

we see ordinarie examples by this licence which wonderfully blemisheth the authoritie and lustre of our law, never to stay upon one sentence, but to run from one to another judge, to decide one same case.

1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 12, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:

Generally, varieties in current use for processing are resilient, if not wholly resistant to blemishing diseases and disorders.

2009, Michael A. Kirkman, “Chapter 2: Global Markets fo Processed Potato Products”, in Jaspreet Singh, Lovedeep Kaur, editors, Advances in Potato Chemistry and Technology, page 40:

I mean it reaches a point of ridiculousness in some regards, and one′s seen actually many good schemes here in San Francisco, for example, that have been blemished by an overly strict adherence to codes.

2011, Rob Imrie, Emma Street, Architectural Design and Regulation, unnumbered page:

(transitive) To spoil the appearance of.


petite

en-adj

petite (comparative more petite, superlative most petite)

more petite (comparative)
most petite (superlative)

Borrowed from French petite f, feminine of petit m (“small, little”).

(especially of a woman) Fairly short and of slim build.

миньонка

Of a woman: fairly short and of slim build


petite

The primary structure of the mitochondrial genomes of these petites had been previously determined […]

2005, Giorgio Bernardi, Structural and Evolutionary Genomics, page 39:

Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Saccharomyces cerevisiae#Translingual

(genetics) A mutant first discovered in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, forming small colonies when grown in the presence of fermentable carbon sources such as glucose.


foxy

foxy (comparative foxier, superlative foxiest)

foxier (comparative)
foxiest (superlative)

(informal) Attractive, sexy (of a woman).


sex symbol

→ Catalan: sex symbol

→ French: sex-symbol

→ Portuguese: sex symbol

→ Spanish: sex symbol

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-sex symbol.wav

1871 used in Anthropology, first applied to a person in 1959 (Marilyn Monroe).

In the 50's and 60's Marilyn Monroe was considered a sex symbol.

A person who embodies the sexual ideals of a mass audience.


callipygous

callipygous (comparative more callipygous, superlative most callipygous)

more callipygous (comparative)
most callipygous (superlative)

From Ancient Greek κάλλος (kállos, “beauty”) + πυγή (pugḗ, “buttocks”) + -ous.

One does not fall very desperately in love with a loud speaker, however pretty, however firmly plump (for Philip's tastes were rather old-fashioned), however attractively callipygous.

1928, Aldous Huxley, chapter VII, in Point Counter Point, London: Chatto & Windus, page 122:

He enjoyed Nurse Sue Ann Duckett’s long white legs and supple, callipygous ass; he often neglected to remember that she was quite slim and fragile from the waist up and hurt her unintentionally in moments of passion when he hugged her too roughly.

1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC:

The other hand came up and together they described a near callipygous shape.

1976, Samuel R. Delany, Triton, Bantam Books,, →ISBN, page 105:


you can't judge a book by its cover

En-au-you can't judge a book by its cover.ogg

(idiomatic, figurative) It is not possible to make reliable judgments about things or people by considering external appearances alone.

it is not possible to judge things by external appearances alone

لَا تَحْكُم عَلَى كِتَابِ مِِنْ غِلَافِهِ

אַל תִּסְתַּכֵּל בַּקַּנְקַן אֶלָּא בַמֶּה שֶׁיֵּשׁ בּוֹ (ál tistakél baqanqán, éla bamé sheyésh bó, literally “Don't look at the jug, but at what's inside it.”)

जाति ना पूछो साधु की; पूछ लीजिए ज्ञान (jāti nā pūcho sādhu kī; pūch lījie jñān, literally “Ask not a saint of his caste; rather, of his knowledge.”)

þú getur ekki rannsakað hund eftir hárinu

go minic bíonn croí geal i gcraiceann donn

's tric a bhios cridhe gheal ann an seiche dhonn

hayvanın alacası dışında, insanın alacası içinde

не судіть про книгу за її обкладинкою

ne suditʹ pro knyhu za jiji obkladynkoju

anything essential is invisible to the eyes


in shape

I hope to get in shape for summer swimsuit season.

Whoa, look over here
We got a cute little ol' runner to the right
Blue shorts, no shirt
You're looking good darling
That's right, stay in shape

(idiomatic) In a good state of physical fitness or bodily appearance.

en forme

(idiomatic) in a good state of physical fitness


dainty

dainty (comparative daintier, superlative daintiest)

daintier (comparative)
daintiest (superlative)

From Middle English deynte (as noun), from Old French deintié, from Latin dignitātem. Doublet of dignity.

As for thoſe People of the Eaſt, (Goa, Calecute, Malaca,) they vvere a Fine, and Dainty People; Frugall, and yet Elegant, though not Militar.

1622 (date written), Francis [Bacon], “An Advertisement Touching an Holy VVarre. […]”, in William Rawley, editor, Certaine Miscellany VVorks of the Right Honourable Francis Lo. Verulam, Viscount S. Alban. […], London: […] I. Hauiland for Humphrey Robinson, […], published 1629, →OCLC, page 104:

Those dainty limbs which nature lent / For gentle usage and soft delicacy.

1634 October 9 (first performance), [John Milton], edited by H[enry] Lawes, A Maske Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634: […] [Comus], London: […] [Augustine Matthews] for Hvmphrey Robinson, […], published 1637, →OCLC; reprinted as Comus: […] (Dodd, Mead & Company’s Facsimile Reprints of Rare Books; Literature Series; no. I), New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1903, →OCLC:

However, with the dainty volume my quondam friend sprang into fame. At the same time he cast off the chrysalis of a commonplace existence.

1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

The cutting sides were gay with heather in bloom, and masses of dainty Scots bluebells, while patches of clear sky overhead were bringing life and colour to the sea.

1947 January and February, O. S. Nock, “"The Aberdonian" in Wartime”, in Railway Magazine, page 9:


hunk

Probably borrowed from West Flemish hunke (“hunk; chunk”), of obscure origin. Probably from an earlier *humke, *humpke, a diminutive related to Dutch homp (“hunk; lump”), English hump, equivalent to hump + -kin. The sense of an attractive man is recorded in Australian slang in 1941, in jive talk in 1945.

The unfortunate thing about calling the season seven finale “The Dragon And The Wolf” is you can’t even reference it by name without picturing Daenerys Targaryen’s long-awaited hook-up with Jon Snow, her strapping hunk of an ally and also her nephew.

2017 August 27, Brandon Nowalk, “Game Of Thrones slows down for the longest, and best, episode of the season (newbies)”, in The Onion AV Club:

Diana’s most recent romantic adventure at that time was with the sturdy hunk Will Carling, captain of the England rugby team, whom she had met in 1995 working out at the Chelsea Harbor Club gym.

April 5 2022, Tina Brown, “How Princess Diana’s Dance With the Media Impacted William and Harry”, in Vanity Fair:

(informal) An attractive man, especially one who is muscular.


sexpot

Rather than asking her to play a shallow sexpot, Clash by Night and Don't Bother to Knock ask Monroe to play women with strong opinions and complex psyches.

2019, Amanda Konkle, Some Kind of Mirror: Creating Marilyn Monroe, Rutgers University Press, →ISBN:

After appearing in commercials and soaps as a child, Applegate broke out as a teenage sexpot on the long-running Fox sitcom “Married With Children,” then won an Emmy for her work on “Friends.”

2022 November 1, Alexis Soloski, “Christina Applegate Pours One Out for ‘Dead to Me’”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:


countenance

en-noun

countenance (countable and uncountable, plural countenances)

From Middle English contenaunce, countenaunce, from Anglo-Norman countenance and Old French contenance, from the present participle of contenir, or from Late Latin continentia, and therefore a doublet of continence.

But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 4:5:

It was as if the countenance were for a brief while allowed to wear the likeness of the peaceful and spiritual world whither the soul had departed.

1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXXI, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 319:

But Richmond, his grandfather's darling, after one thoughtful glance cast under his lashes at that uncompromising countenance appeared to lose himself in his own reflections.

1959, Georgette Heyer, chapter 1, in The Unknown Ajax:

With such powerful selling-points, why is it, as recent editorial comment and correspondence in this journal has revealed, that "Condor" has yet to bring a warm glow to the countenance of the L.M.R.'s accountants?

1960 January, G. Freeman Allen, “"Condor"—British Railways' fastest freight train”, in Trains Illustrated, page 46:

Appearance, especially the features and expression of the face.


Apollo

From Latin Apollō, from Ancient Greek Ἀπόλλων (Apóllōn).

Apollo 11 landed people on the moon for the first time.

(NASA, space science) A United States space program, and the vehicles it created, used for human travel to the moon.


bonnie

en-adj

bonnie (comparative bonnier or more bonnie, superlative bonniest or most bonnie)

bonnier (comparative)
more bonnie (comparative)
bonniest (superlative)
most bonnie (superlative)

From Middle English *bonie (attested only rarely as bon, boun), probably from Old French bon, feminine bonne (“good”), from Latin bonus (“good”). See bounty, and compare bonus, boon.

O once I lov'd a bonnie lass, / Aye, and I love her still

1774, “Handsome Nell”, Robert Burns (lyrics), published 1803:

(Scotland, Geordie) Beautiful; pretty; attractive; handsome.


attractiveness

en-noun

attractiveness (countable and uncountable, plural attractivenesses)

(countable) The result of being attractive.


beer goggles

/ˈbɪə ˌɡɒɡl̩z/

/ˈbɪɚ ˌɡɑɡ(ə)l/

Originally 1980s US college slang, from the notion that consumption of beer and other alcoholic beverages causes people to see things differently, as if wearing a type of goggles.

“Their findings essentially suggest that while intoxication may not have resulted in beer goggles, it did seem to increase liquid courage, in that people were more likely to indicate a desire to interact with attractive others,” said Monk, whose previous research had found some evidence to support the beer goggles effect.

2023 August 30, Linda Geddes, “‘Beer goggles’ study finds alcohol does not make people seem better looking”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(idiomatic, originally US, humorous, informal) The illusion that people are more sexually attractive, brought on by alcohol consumption.

bierbril

wyższa atrakcyjność spodowowana przez alkohol


hunky

en-adj

hunky (comparative hunkier, superlative hunkiest)

hunkier (comparative)
hunkiest (superlative)


take after

en-verb

take after (third-person singular simple present takes after, present participle taking after, simple past took after, past participle taken after)

takes after (present singular third-person)
taking after (participle present)
took after (past)
taken after (participle past)

She takes after her grandmother with her wide eyes and quiet disposition.

To resemble (a parent or ancestor) in appearance or habit.


looking

From Middle English lokinge, lokinde, lokande, lokende, from Old English lōciende, present participle of Old English lōcian (“to look”), equivalent to look + -ing.

dorky-looking

By one o'clock the place was choc-a-bloc. […] The restaurant was packed, and the promenade between the two main courts and the subsidiary courts was thronged with healthy-looking youngish people, drawn to the Mecca of tennis from all parts of the country.

1935, George Goodchild, chapter 5, in Death on the Centre Court:

Good-Looking, Funny Guy — (Not funny-looking, good guy), 36, Jewish, athletic.

1988 September 12, New York Magazine, page 226:

as the last part of compound adjectives: relating to or having the appearance of.


skanky

en-adj

skanky (comparative skankier, superlative skankiest)

skankier (comparative)
skankiest (superlative)

(slang) in the manner of a skank (disreputable woman)


telegenic

telegenic (comparative more telegenic, superlative most telegenic)

more telegenic (comparative)
most telegenic (superlative)

From tele- + -genic, by analogy with photogenic.

The young politician was very telegenic.

Then again, TV politicking simply selects for politicians who are good at TV — charismatic-cool like Mr. Obama, provocative-hot like Mr. Trump — and being telegenic does not necessarily mean having good policy or judgment or decision-making instincts.

2024 July 22, James Poniewozik, “One Night of TV Canceled a President”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

Having an appearance and exhibiting qualities thought to be attractive to television viewers.

televisiu

having an appearance and exhibiting qualities attractive to television viewers


spruce up

en-verb

spruce up (third-person singular simple present spruces up, present participle sprucing up, simple past and past participle spruced up)

spruces up (present singular third-person)
sprucing up (participle present)
spruced up (participle past)
spruced up (past)

Fresh paint and some new curtains would do a lot to spruce up this dark room.

Hu Yaobang was officially rehabilitated on the ninetieth anniversary of his birth in 2005 and his mausoleum in China Youth League City (Gongqingcheng) in Jiangxi province was spruced up.

2010, Bruce Gilley, “Deng Xiaoping and His Successors (1976 to the present)”, in William A. Joseph, editor, Politics in China: An Introduction, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 114:

Here's an interesting effect of a global pandemic that has forced Americans to stay home for nearly 10 months: with less vacation and dine-out options, folks have more money saved up than usual and, given the virtually endless amount of time spent staring at their own four walls, they seem to be more willing than usual to shell out some extra cash to spruce up their abodes.

2020 December 3, Anna Rahmanan, “Christmas trees are, indeed, more expensive this year than last”, in Time Out:

(idiomatic) To refresh, revamp; to freshen or improve something, especially its appearance.


two-bagger

(slang, derogatory) An extremely unattractive person (usually female), the insinuation being that one bag covering her face would not be adequate, but her partner would need to wear one too.


like the back end of a bus

Not really fighting over her (puns aside). When you get a current beau and an ex, full of booze and testosterone, meeting up, their common interest isn't much of an issue in the subsequent display of machismo. I think she looks like the back end of a bus but, to them, she was a 'possession'.

2001, "Richard", "A sign of our times...", demon.local http://groups.google.com/group/demon.local/browse_thread/thread/3e3e39af204c46cb/06729fc6d595ef98?lnk=st&q=%22the+back+end+of+a+bus%22&rnum=21#06729fc6d595ef98

Must admit, I like the *original* 911s - the original, late-1960s ones back before they fitted bulgey wheelarches and silly tea-tray rear spoilers. They look much more like delicate, precision instruments compared with the later 'sledgehammer" versions [which IMHO are about as attractive as the back end of a bus].

2002, Tanuki the Raccoon-dog, “I drove a...”, in uk.rec.cars.modifications (Usenet):

You surely can't be comparing Alicia Witt with Sarah Fergusson? Alicia Witt looks stunning, while the duchess of Pork looks like the back end of a bus.

2004, David Platt, “DUCHESS OF YORK NUDE”, in uk.politics.misc (Usenet):

‘You’ve got a face like the back end of a bus,’ he spat, his eyes raw and burning. Then he grinned, his yellow-stained teeth spreading across his mush [...]

2005, Will Hadcroft, Anne Droyd And Century Lodge:

As I once told him, being British, looking like the back end of a bus or weighing 30 stone, was utterly irrelevant to the posting i made

2006, "sheelagh", "Bookie: Did you adopt the blind cat?", rec.pats.cats.health+behav http://groups.google.com/group/rec.pets.cats.health+behav/browse_thread/thread/d6ce604519cdefbb/a5f305d13e68a960?lnk=st&q=%22the+back+end+of+a+bus%22&rnum=10#a5f305d13e68a960

(simile, colloquial, British, derogatory) Very unattractive.


gaudy

en-adj

gaudy (comparative gaudier, superlative gaudiest)

gaudier (comparative)
gaudiest (superlative)

From Middle English gaudi, from Old French gaudie, from Medieval Latin gaudia. equivalent to gaud (“ornament, trinket”) + -y.
Alternatively, from Middle English gaudi, gawdy (“yellowish”), from Old French gaude, galde (“weld (the plant)”), from Frankish *walda, from Proto-Germanic *walþō, *walþijō, akin to Old English *weald, *wielde (>Middle English welde, wolde and Anglo-Latin walda (“alum”)), Middle Low German wolde, Middle Dutch woude. More at English weld.
A common claim that the word derives from Antoni Gaudí, designer of Barcelona's Sagrada Família Basilica, is incorrect: the word was in use centuries before Gaudí was born.

Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy, / But not expressed in fancy; rich, not gaudy.

c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:

Though, I confeſs, Paris has its Charms; but to me they are like thoſe of a Coquette, gay and gavvdy; they ſerve to amuſe vvith, but a Man vvould not chuſe to be marry'd to them.

1721, [Colley] Cibber, The Refusal; or, The Ladies Philosophy: A Comedy. […], London: […] B[arnaby Bernard] Lintot, […]; W[illiam] Mears, […]; and W[illiam Rufus] Chetwood, […], →OCLC, Act I, page 2:

The rooms were lofty and handsome, and their furniture suitable to the fortune of its proprietor; but Elizabeth saw, with admiration of his taste, that it was neither gaudy nor uselessly fine; with less of splendour, and more real elegance, than the furniture of Rosings.

1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], Pride and Prejudice: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC:

A faded, and an ancient dragon he was; and many a wintry storm of rain, snow, sleet, and hail, had changed his colour from a gaudy blue to a faint lack-lustre shade of gray.

1842 December – 1844 July, Charles Dickens, chapter 3, in The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1844, →OCLC, page 19:

A large gaudy, flowing cravat, and an ill-used silk hat, set well back on the wearer's head, completed this somewhat noticeable costume.

Gaudy jewellery might offend some people's sense of style. But former heavyweight champion and grilling-machine entrepreneur George Foreman is philosophical about today's craze for bling-bling.

2005 January 9, Thomas Hauser, Marilyn Cole Lownes, “How Bling-bling Took Over the Ring”, in The Observer:

Very showy or ornamented, now especially when excessive, or in a tasteless or vulgar manner.


shininess

en-noun

shininess (usually uncountable, plural shininesses)

(computing) The coefficient of specular reflectivity associated with the surface of an object being displayed.


beautifully

en-adv

beautifully (comparative more beautifully, superlative most beautifully)

more beautifully (comparative)
most beautifully (superlative)

From beautiful + -ly, circa 17th century.

The intercom system worked beautifully, despite the fact that the ear plugs were designed for human rather than kzinti ears.

Tom Cleverley had one of his better games, the highlight being a beautifully weighted pass to send Walcott away for his goal, and Rooney probably did as well as might have been anticipated given this was his first start in a competitive match since April.

2013 August 14, Daniel Taylor, The Guardian:


hideous

en-adj

hideous (comparative more hideous, superlative most hideous)

more hideous (comparative)
most hideous (superlative)

From Middle English hidous, from Anglo-Norman hidous, from Old French hideus, hydus (“that which inspires terror”), from earlier hisdos, from Old French hisda (“horror, fear”), of uncertain and disputed origin. Probably from Proto-West Germanic *agisiþu (“horror, terror”), from Proto-West Germanic *agisōn (“to frighten, terrorise”), from Proto-Germanic *agaz (“terror, fear”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂egʰ- (“to frighten”). Cognate with Old High German egisa, egidī (“horror”), Old English egesa (“fear, dread”), Gothic 𐌰𐌲𐌹𐍃 (agis, “fear, terror”).
Alternative etymology cites possible derivation from Latin hispidosus (“rugged”), from hispidus (“rough, bristly”), yet the semantic evolution is less plausible.

der

I’m sorry to break it to you, but your dress looks truly hideous.

the Duke's army departed unmolested : but the highway along which he retired presented a piteous and hideous spectacle.

1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:


line of beauty

Every line is the line of beauty; it is only fumble and bungle which cannot draw a line. This only is ugliness. That is not a line which doubts and hesitates in the midst of its course.

1880, William Blake, “Public Address and Memoranda by Blake of his mode of Engraving”, in Life of William Blake, volume 2:

(fine arts) An abstract line supposed to be beautiful in itself and absolutely; differently represented by different authors, often as a kind of elongated S (like the one drawn by Hogarth).


shapely

en-adj

shapely (comparative shapelier or more shapely, superlative shapeliest or most shapely)

shapelier (comparative)
more shapely (comparative)
shapeliest (superlative)
most shapely (superlative)

From Middle English schaply, schappely (“well-shaped, beautiful, attractive”), perhaps from Old English *ġesċeaplīċ (“according to design, proper, fit”) (suggested by Old English ġesċeaplīċe (“properly, fitting, well”)), equivalent to shape + -ly.

cog

The more solicitous of the two was Nurse Cramer, a shapely, pretty, sexless girl with a wholesome unattractive face.

1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “The Soldier in White”, in Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC, page 171:

It used to be, whenever Frank passed a rival butcher’s window (and later the curved glass of a supermarket meat counter), he would peer in unjealously, looking for the subtleties that spoke of talent with a knife. Were their fillets shapely?

2020 September 1, Tom Lamont, “The butcher's shop that lasted 300 years (give or take)”, in The Guardian:

Having a pleasing shape, pleasant to look at.


snatched

en-adj

snatched (comparative more snatched, superlative most snatched)

more snatched (comparative)
most snatched (superlative)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-snatched.wav

So she lifted her head and continued the trek. “See, that's more like it,” Norman said. “Walk like you own this motherfuckin' town. You are looking snatched in that dress.” Norman pretended as though he had yanked something up out of thin air.

2017, Shereé Whitfield, Wives, Fiancées, and Side-Chicks of Hotlanta, →ISBN, page 46:

“Everyone says that you should wait, because your body doesn’t fully come in until you’re like 30, and I’m 20 years old, and why am I going to wait until I’m 30 to be snatched?” Catera Northup, an exotic dancer from Rhode Island, said.

2022 May 11, Sandra E. Garcia, “Butt Lifts Are Booming. Healing Is No Joke.”, in The New York Times Magazine:


dreary

dreary (comparative drearier or more dreary, superlative dreariest or most dreary)

drearier (comparative)
more dreary (comparative)
dreariest (superlative)
most dreary (superlative)

From Middle English drery, from Old English drēoriġ (“sad”), from Proto-Germanic *dreuzagaz (“bloody”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrews- (“to break, break off, crumble”), equivalent to drear + -y. Cognate with Dutch treurig (“sad, gloomy”), Low German trurig (“sad”), German traurig (“sad, sorrowful, mournful”), Old Norse dreyrigr (“bloody”). Related to Old English drēor (“blood, falling blood”), Old English drysmian (“to become gloomy”).

cog

It had rained for three days straight, and the dreary weather dragged the townspeople's spirits down.

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary...

It was on a dreary night of November, that I beheld the accomplishment of my toils.

1818, Mary Shelley, chapter V, in Frankenstein, volume 1:


unsightly

en-adj

unsightly (comparative more unsightly, superlative most unsightly)

more unsightly (comparative)
most unsightly (superlative)

For example, by changing the use of existing rooms, removing or replacing unsightly features, clearing obstacles to easy circulation, rearranging direction signs and generally introducing as much order as possible, most outdated station buildings can be made reasonably efficient and attractive.

1962 October, Brian Haresnape, “Focus on B.R. passenger stations”, in Modern Railways, page 252:

The removal of unsightly graffiti on the sides of railway bridges spanning major roads in the North West is to be handed over to National Highways, to speed up the job.

2021 October 20, “Network News: NR and NH tackle graffiti vandalism”, in RAIL, number 942, page 9:

“She had grown used to the quick speech of these people, but she wished he would not lick his lips that way. It did not make him any harder to understand, but it was unsightly."

1992, Robert Jordan, “Chapter 38: Hidden Faces”, in The Shadow Rising (The Wheel of Time; 4), London: Orbit Books, published 2021, →ISBN, page 610:


stud muffin

From stud + muffin, perhaps with influence from beefcake. First use appears c. 1983 in Buffalo News.

Billboard magazine quoted an Oklahoma City radio program who described him as "a stud muffin" — "there was just a vibe on this guy out there, especially among women" (Stark 1992, 89)

1995, Curtis W Ellison, Country Music Culture: From Hard Times to Heaven, University Press of Mississippi, published 1995, page 44:

"I'm a total stud muffin. Can't you see it?" Simon joked.

1999, John W Milor, Apparition, page 106:

“A stud!” “A stud muffin!” In general, the students’ enthusiasm for Clinton was equalled by their disdain for George W. Bush.

(idiomatic, colloquial) A very attractive man.


nymphet

From nymph + -et (“diminutive”), first attested 1612. The second sense was popularized by Vladimir Nabokov's 1955 novel Lolita.

[…] the fey grace, the elusive, shifty, soul-shattering, insidious charm that separates the nymphet from such coevals of hers […]

1955, Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: G[eorge] P[almer] Putnam’s Sons, published August 1958, →OCLC, part 1, page 19:

A sexually attractive girl or young woman.


cosmetic surgery

en-noun

cosmetic surgery (countable and uncountable, plural cosmetic surgeries)

The face lift is a classic example of cosmetic surgery.

I come from Africa – we celebrate getting older. A friend was telling me there’s been a rise in cosmetic surgery, all because [people]^([sic]) have been looking at themselves in Zoom meetings.

2022 December 14, Nadia Khomami, quoting Iman, “‘He’s not my “late” husband’: Iman speaks of grief over death of David Bowie”, in The Guardian:

Surgery (and related medical treatment) to improve appearance rather than for health reasons.


let go

en-verb

let go (third-person singular simple present lets go, present participle letting go, simple past and past participle let go)

lets go (present singular third-person)
letting go (participle present)
let go (participle past)
let go (past)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-let go.wav

antaa mennä

euphemistic: to fail to maintain a standard of appearance, behavior, or performance

(euphemistic, transitive) To fail to maintain a standard of appearance, behavior, or performance.

Wow, dude! You've really let yourself go this time!

(euphemistic, usually reflexively) To gain weight.


bootylicious

en-adj

bootylicious (comparative more bootylicious, superlative most bootylicious)

more bootylicious (comparative)
most bootylicious (superlative)

From booty + -licious. Term first originated in the 1990s, and was popularized by the 2001 Destiny's Child song "Bootylicious".

I don't think you're ready for this jelly / I don't think you're ready for this / 'Cause my body too bootylicious for ya, babe

2001, “Bootylicious”, in Survivor, performed by Destiny's Child:

Is it OK for a chunky, 40-something white guy to feel bootylicious? Oh, how I hope it's acceptable, because if feeling bootylicious is wrong, I don't wanna be right.

2003, Dale Alderman, Being a Dad, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 104:

He lingered for a few minutes, vacantly watching a bootylicious black girl bump and grind to Pink’s catchy smash, “Get the Party Started.”

2004, Jon Jeffrey, Boyfriend Material, Kensington Books, →ISBN, page 93:

It’s your daughter with a tank top that says porn star, hot pants that say bootylicious and, of course, underneath ... the kiddie thong.

2005, Glenn Beck, The Real America, Pocket Books, →ISBN:


bootilicious

bootilicious (comparative more bootilicious, superlative most bootilicious)

more bootilicious (comparative)
most bootilicious (superlative)

Beautiful Betty “BeBe” Brown. / Bamboozled, but bedazzled by big, / Bold, bodacious, bootilicious, boy bods / Became baby-bound.

2003, Syieve Locklair, “'bout B”, in Sayings of a Soul: A Collection of Poetry:

Off the Hook is Friday's bootilicious Gatehouse hip hop night.

2004, Jonathan Rich, The Push Guide to Which University:

If you weren't born with Cameron Diaz's lanky body or with Beyoncé's bootilicious features ...

2005, Jennifer Musselman, Patti Degregori, Hip Girl's Handbook For The Working World:

Bootilicious body language for saying goodbye

2005, Eve Marx, Read My Hips: The Sexy Art of Flirtation:

Bootilicious benefit ... I’m going to see Destiny’s Child tonight ... not close enough for a stage dive toward Beyonce but I guess we’re all better off for that.


snazzy

snazzy (comparative snazzier, superlative snazziest)

snazzier (comparative)
snazziest (superlative)

Unknown but perhaps a blend of snappy + jazzy, or from Irish snas (“polish; good appearance”).

a snazzy dresser

One particularly snazzy outfit consisted of vertically striped pants paired with a horizontally striped and sequined top.

2000 September 23, Alev Aktar, “TAILOR MADE GOES: Fashion week closes with Calvin, Donna and Vera”, in New York Daily News, retrieved 2009-01-08:

Their interiors will also be repainted, while the non-instrumented area of the coach, which contains only a few seats, will be made to "look snazzy".

2022 September 21, Brendan Rice, “Ready for inspection”, in RAIL, number 966, page 61:

(informal) Elegant in manner of dress; stylish, modern or appealing in appearance; flashy.


cutie

Before every visit, I'm convinced that the tourists will have used all the napkins, the pigeons will have roosted beneath the chairs, the sidewalk musicians will be playing classic rock, the servers will all be high school cuties […]

2009, Sara Roahen, Gumbo Tales: Finding My Place at the New Orleans Table, page 239:


prettify

en-verb

prettify (third-person singular simple present prettifies, present participle prettifying, simple past and past participle prettified)

prettifies (present singular third-person)
prettifying (participle present)
prettified (participle past)
prettified (past)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-prettify.wav

Old-fashioned bosses see their role as prettifying the office and forming a pool of potential marriage partners for male employees.

2011 November 5, “Land of the wasted talent”, in The Economist:

To make pretty or prettier, to make more attractive, especially only in a superficial way.


portly

en-adj

portly (comparative portlier, superlative portliest)

portlier (comparative)
portliest (superlative)

From an archaic sense of port (“manner in which a person carries himself; bearing; deportment; carriage”) + -ly.

af

He ſends this Souldans daughter rich and braue,
To be my Queene and portly Empereſſe, […]

c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act I, scene ii:

Portly his person was, and much increast
Through his Heroicke grace and honourable gest.

1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

Be studious well to imitate
My portly motion, mien, and gait

1728, Jonathan Swift, A Dialogue between Mad Mullinix and Timothy:

(now rare) Having a dignified bearing; handsome, imposing.


radiance

en-noun

radiance (countable and uncountable, plural radiances)

Girt with omnipotence, with radiance crowned.

1667, John Milton, “Book VII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

You who live in radiance
hear the prayers of those of us who live in skin

1998, “Hard to Get”, performed by Rich Mullins:

The quality or state of being radiant; shining, bright or splendid.

փայլ

the quality of being radiant, shining, bright or splendid


loveliness

loveliness (countable and uncountable, plural lovelinesses)

From Middle English luflynes; equivalent to lovely + -ness.

A thing of beauty is a joy for ever: / Its loveliness increases; it will never / Pass into nothingness; but still will keep / A bower quiet for us, and a sleep / Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.

1818, John Keats, “Book I”, in Endymion: A Poetic Romance, London: […] T[homas] Miller, […] for Taylor and Hessey, […], →OCLC, page 3, lines 1–5:

Then, seated in her barbaric chair above them all, with myself at her feet, was the veiled white woman, whose loveliness and awesome power seemed to visibly shine about her like a halo, or rather like the glow from some unseen light.

1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:

(uncountable) The property of being lovely, of attractiveness, beauty, appearing to be lovable.


cosmetology

From French cosmétologie. By surface analysis, cosmetics + -ology.


cosmetologist

A person who advises people (normally women) on cosmetics and other beauty treatments; a beautician.

skoonheidskundige

person who advises people on cosmetics and other beauty treatments


dishy

en-adj

dishy (comparative dishier, superlative dishiest)

dishier (comparative)
dishiest (superlative)

From dish (“attractive person”) + -y (forming adjectives).

suf

(British, slang) Attractive; good-looking; sexy.


tidiness

en-noun

tidiness (usually uncountable, plural tidinesses)

The amount of external pipework is also unusual in a British locomotive, though apparent in the most recent L.M.S.R. designs, such as the Class "4" 2-6-0s; but while lacking the tidiness of the old school of British locomotive engineering, this has obvious application for maintenance purposes in present circumstances.

1951 April, Stirling Everard, “A Matter of Pedigree”, in Railway Magazine, number 600, page 274:


dreamy

en-adj

dreamy (comparative dreamier, superlative dreamiest)

dreamier (comparative)
dreamiest (superlative)

I love the doctor in that American TV show: he is so dreamy!

He is dreamy, sex-bomb cute.

1999, Shana Larsen, 200 Cigarettes (motion picture), spoken by Lucy (Courtney Love):

(colloquial) Sexy; handsome; attractive.


careworn

careworn (comparative more careworn, superlative most careworn)

more careworn (comparative)
most careworn (superlative)

/ˈkɛəɹˌwɔɹn/

The weeks of working hard to look after his sick family left him looking careworn.

At length the long-expected knock was heard. She hurried to the door, and met her husband; a man whose face was care-worn and depressed, though he was young. There was a remarkable expression in it now; a kind of serious delight of which he felt ashamed, and which he struggled to repress.

1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave Four. The Last of the Spirits.”, in A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, page 139:

The effect upon his personal appearance of this wear and tear of his intellect was striking and manifest. The hue of youth and health entirely departed from his cheeks, and he looked so sad and careworn, that it was quite a terrible thing to look upon a young lad so, as it were, upon the threshold of existence, and in whom anxious thoughts were making such war upon the physical energies.

1846–1847, attributed to James Malcolm Rymer and/or Thomas Peckett Prest, “The String of Pearls: A Romance”, in Edward Lloyd, editor, The People’s Periodical and Family Library, London: E. Lloyd, →OCLC, chapter 14 (“Tobias’s Threat, and Its Consequences”); republished as Sweeney Todd: The String of Pearls: The Original Victorian Classic, Mineola, N.Y.: Dover Publications, 2015, →ISBN, page 121:

Thanks to that penny he had just spent so recklessly he would pass a happy hour, taken, for once, out of his anxious, despondent, miserable self. It irritated him shrewdly to know that these moments of respite from carking care would not be shared with his poor wife, with careworn, troubled Ellen.

1913, Mrs. [Marie] Belloc Lowndes, chapter I, in The Lodger, London: Methuen, →OCLC; republished in Novels of Mystery: The Lodger; The Story of Ivy; What Really Happened, New York, N.Y.: Longmans, Green and Co., […], [1933], →OCLC, page 10:

I don't find the pose of careless youth charming and engaging any more than you find the pose of careworn age fascinating and eccentric, I should imagine.

1991 September, Stephen Fry, chapter 2, in The Liar, London: Heinemann, →ISBN, →OCLC, section I, page 35:

Played acoustically, glacially paced and sung in Kristofferson's parched, age-weathered voice, even his more lighthearted songs – Jesus Was a Capricorn, Best Of All Possible Worlds – were leant^([sic – meaning lent]) an eerie gravitas, while Me and Bobby McGee and Sunday Morning Coming Down sounded heartbreakingly careworn and poignant.

2017 June 26, Alexis Petridis, “Glastonbury 2017 Verdict: Radiohead, Foo Fighters, Lorde, Stormzy and More”, in The Guardian, London, archived from the original on 2017-11-12:

Worn down by cares: showing the signs of long-term stress, tired and haggard due to prolonged worry.

National Archives and Records Administration


presentable

presentable (comparative more presentable, superlative most presentable)

more presentable (comparative)
most presentable (superlative)

From Middle French presentable, from Old French, as if present + -able.

Before we go out, let me just go to the washroom and make myself presentable.

Before they went to see Glinda, however, they were taken to a room of the Castle, where Dorothy washed her face and combed her hair, and the Lion shook the dust out of his mane, and the Scarecrow patted himself into his best shape, and the Woodman polished his tin and oiled his joints. When they were all quite presentable they followed the soldier girl into a big room where the Witch Glinda sat upon a throne of rubies.

1900 May 17, L[yman] Frank Baum, chapter 23, in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Chicago, Ill.; New York, N.Y.: Geo[rge] M[elvin] Hill Co., →OCLC:

In good enough shape to be shown or offered to other people; tidy; attractive.


clamorous

clamorous (comparative more clamorous, superlative most clamorous)

more clamorous (comparative)
most clamorous (superlative)

From clamor + -ous; compare Latin clāmōrōsus and French clamoreux (obsolete), from Latin clāmōrem.

She led them along a path edged with round, whitewashed stones and equally rounded basils of a clamorous green.

1970, Patrick White, chapter 6, in The Vivisector, New York: Avon, published 1980, page 376:

It was impossible to overlook the clamorous parrots on the new missionary’s Hawaiian shirt.

2015, John Irving, chapter 9, in Avenue of the Mysteries, New York: Simon and Schuster, page 99:

Having especially (and often unpleasantly) bright or contrasting colours or patterns.


centerfold

(by extension) Any very sexually attractive person, who is therefore material for such a photograph.


momma

Alternative spelling of mama; see further etymology there.

My momma’s so great: she bakes me cookies every week.

Whoa, that chick in the bikini is a real momma!


momma

No spitting of momma here.

(Philippines, chiefly Cordillera) A betel nut plus other ingredients (like areca nut, betel leaves, slaked lime, and tobacco) to be chewed on.


good-lookingness

According to the criteria of good-lookingness, Uncle Pete deserved an A.

2001, James Hutchison, James' Journey: From the Scottish Highlands Via New York and Texas to Mars and Beyond, page 150:

Last, in acknowledgment of his even better good-lookingness, I remember that I can't claim the same.

2016, Liora Blake, First Step Forward, page 61:

The quality or state of being good-looking; attractiveness, beauty.


grody

grody (comparative grodier, superlative grodiest)

grodier (comparative)
grodiest (superlative)

From groady, apparently a clipping of grotesque + -y (intervocalic /t/ and /d/ are similar in American English). Compare British grotty, of the same origin, and gro.
Popularized by Moon Unit Zappa in song "Valley Girl" (1982) in phrase "grody to the max", as archetypal Southern California Valleyspeak; song also popularized "gag me with a spoon".

I wouldn't set foot in that bar; the floor looks grody.

And the lady, like, goes / "Oh, my god, your toenails are, like, so grody" / […] / It’s like grody / Grody to the max / […] / Gross!

1982, Frank Zappa, Moon Zappa (lyrics and music), “Valley Girl”, in Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch:

Oh wait. It's just grody and rotten. The Cheat, will you please freaking clean up after yourself?

2002 October 31, Michael Chapman; Matthew Chapman, “Strong Bad Email #48: ghosts”, in Homestar Runner, spoken by Strong Bad (Matthew Chapman):

(US, informal) Nasty, dirty, disgusting, foul, revolting, yucky, grotesque.


debonair

debonair (comparative more debonair, superlative most debonair)

more debonair (comparative)
most debonair (superlative)

From Old French debonaire, from the phrase de bon aire (“of good stock, noble”).

Let be that Ladie debonaire, / Thou recreant knight, and soone thy selfe prepaire / To battell […].

1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto VI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:


cutesy

cutesy (comparative cutesier, superlative cutesiest)

cutesier (comparative)
cutesiest (superlative)

The couple called each other cutesy pet names, like "honeypot" and "smoochie-poochie" that disgusted everyone else.

If each subject attracts roughly the same amount of attention (and with a judgmental adjustment to drop the more cutesy papers), that's roughly 100 papers per topic.

2024, Jeremy B. Rudd, A Practical Guide to Macroeconomics, page 231f:

Overly, affectedly or unnecessarily cute; too cute to be taken seriously.


splendour

en-noun

splendour (usually uncountable, plural splendours)

If the kind of network we envisage is to be established, it would be unwise to begin any of its services hurriedly with older stock, which, however admirable in its day, now has an air of faded Edwardian splendour that is out of joint with the times.

1962 December, “A new Pullman era?”, in Modern Railways, page 362:

British, Canadian, Ireland, South Africa, Australian, and New Zealand standard spelling of splendor.


looker

One having a specific look or appearance.


scruffy

en-adj

scruffy (comparative scruffier, superlative scruffiest)

scruffier (comparative)
scruffiest (superlative)

A scruffy little dog came scampering down the road.

scruffy clothes

scruffy man

scruffy outfit

"So you wanna be a rock 'n roll star?!" screams the centerspread of a scruffy rag produced by the Boston activist group Rock Against Sexism (R.A.S.) Amid a jumbled collage picturing shaggy-headed, bare-chested, "fuckin' awesome" white guy rockers, photo captions tell us how to succeed at rock 'n roll.

1987 December 13, Elizabeth Pincus, “Rock Against Sexism”, in Gay Community News, volume 15, number 22, page 16:


dreamboat

From dream + boat, probably suggesting a person “carrying” or embodying the dreams of another; the term appeared in some 1930s and 1940s love songs, referring to a metaphorical boat carrying a lover’s dreams, such as “When My Dream Boat Comes Home” (1936) written by the Canadian-American bandleader Guy Lombardo (1902–1977) and “Someone’s Rocking My Dreamboat” (1941) by the American songwriters Otis (1898–1970) and Leon René (1902–1982), and Emerson Scott.

My new fella is such a dreamboat. He can dance, can sing, and is the captain of the school hockey team.

(informal, dated or humorous) An exceptionally good-looking and sexually attractive person, particularly a man.


beauty salon

A shop that provides hairdressing and beauticians' work.


stunning

stunning (comparative more stunning, superlative most stunning)

more stunning (comparative)
most stunning (superlative)

From Middle English stunnyng, stunnynge, stounyng, equivalent to stun + -ing.

That woman is stunning!

What if the very things you like in me now—you'd hate sometime. What if the things I think are strong and stunning in you now, I'd think were pig-headed and kickable after a while?

1923, Rachel Crothers, “Act III”, in Mary the Third[:] A Comedy in Prologue and Three Acts:

The line along the Northumbrian coast to Berwick and into Scotland is stunning (even on a Voyager!), and the weather is perfect - just sit back, relax, and enjoy the motion picture that plays beyond the window.

2022 November 30, Paul Bigland, “Destination Oban: a Sunday in Scotland”, in RAIL, number 971, page 75:

(informal) Exceptionally beautiful or attractive.


raunchy

raunchy (comparative raunchier, superlative raunchiest)

raunchier (comparative)
raunchiest (superlative)

Of unknown etymology. Originally U.S. Army Air Corps slang; origins among cadets in Texas suggest a possible connection to Mexican Spanish rancho (see ranch), which had connotations of animal filth by 1864.

unknown

Of unknown etymology


munter

Late 1990s, presumably from munt (“to vomit”) and munted (“inebriated; disgusting”) + -er, perhaps with influence from Turkish mantar (“mushroom”).

I'm never going to date her; she's a right munter.

(UK, Ireland, slang, derogatory) An ugly person.


slovenly

en-adj

slovenly (comparative slovenlier, superlative slovenliest)

slovenlier (comparative)
slovenliest (superlative)

The same marks of indolence appeared in the care of his person; for every part of his dress was generally in disorder; and, though he was well made and handsome, yet his slovenly appearance made him disgustful to every one.

1796, “The Unexpected Reformation”, in The Blossoms of Morality, page 35:

Which would you sooner employ, a boy who was plainly, yet neatly clad, or one who had a slovenly appearance, though dressed in fine clothes?

1857, M[arcellus] F. Cowdery, “Lesson XVI. Be Neat.”, in Elementary Moral Lessons For Schools and Families, Philadelphia: H. Cowperthwait & Co., page 132:


fairness

en-noun

fairness (countable and uncountable, plural fairnesses)

From Middle English fairness, fæȝernesse, from Old English fæġernes (“fairness; beauty; pleasantness”), equivalent to fair + -ness. Cognate with Old High German fagarnessi (“fairness”).

inh

Some questioned the fairness of the new laws.

The reason why fairness in taxation matters is institutionalized unfairness rots society from the inside, and the social order and economy eventually collapse.

2024 January 28, Charles Hugh Smith, Our Tax System Is an Unfair Mess: Here's How to Fix It:

The property of being fair or equitable.


beauty is in the eye of the beholder

He is referring to the relativity of "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" an idea that became popular in the 18th cent.

1642, Charles Sorel, La Maison des Jeux, page 57:

Different people have different views on what is beautiful; beauty is subjective.

الْجَمَالُ فِي عَيْنِ النَّاظِرِ

people have different ideas of what is beautiful

de schoonheid der vrijster ligt in 's vrijers oog

die Schönheit liegt im Auge des Betrachters

khūbsūrtī dekhne vālõ ke ā̃khõ mẽ hotī hai

खूबसूरती देखने वालों के आँखों में होती है

is geal leis an bhfiach dubh a ghearrcach féin

la bellezza sta negli occhi di chi guarda

아름다움은 그것을 보는 사람 눈에 달려있다

areumdaumeun geugeoseul boneun saram nune dallyeoitda

ايلوق بوروق د مات اورڠ تقکن سام د مات کيت

elok buruk di mata orang takkan sama di mata kita

nie to ładne, co ładne, ale to co się komu podoba