embellishment

C2+ Topic:Cause, Change & Process

US /ɪmˈbɛlɪʃmənt/ UK /ɪmˈbɛlɪʃmənt/ See IPA manual

noun

Meanings

1

noun
a decorative detail or an exaggeration added to make something more appealing

The tale grew with each retelling, gaining a new embellishment each time.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a decorative detail or an... decoration ornament adornment elaboration garnish frill

Opposites

simplification plainness

Word family

Related forms embellishembellisherbeauty

Etymology

From embellish (from Old French embellir 'to make beautiful', from en- + bel 'beautiful', from Latin bellus) + the noun-forming suffix -ment.

embellir Old French bellus Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Cause, Change & Process Word Formation & Derivatives

# embellishment

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** ɪmˈbɛlɪʃmənt
**IPA (UK):** ɪmˈbɛlɪʃmənt

## Meanings
1. a decorative detail or an exaggeration added to make something more appealing

## Examples
- The tale grew with each retelling, gaining a new embellishment each time.

## Synonyms
- decoration
- ornament
- adornment
- elaboration
- garnish
- frill

## Antonyms
- simplification
- plainness

## Related Forms
- embellish
- embellisher
- beauty

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: embellir
- Root: bellus

## Etymology
From embellish (from Old French embellir 'to make beautiful', from en- + bel 'beautiful', from Latin bellus) + the noun-forming suffix -ment.

## AI Etymology
Embellishment comes from embellish (from Old French embellir 'to make beautiful', from en- + bel 'beautiful', from Latin bellus) + the noun-forming suffix -ment. The etymological trail includes Old French embellir and Latin bellus. As a noun, embellishment names a decorative detail or an exaggeration added to make something more appealing. The same family is visible in related forms such as embellish, embellisher, and beauty. The analysis is partly morphological, with the modern form built from the elements named in the history.

## Topics
- Cause, Change & Process
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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embellishment

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