embellishment
NounUS[em-bel-ish-muhnt]/ɛmˈbɛlɪʃmənt/4 syllables
Open English WordNet
Noun (3)
- elaboration of an interpretation by the use of decorative (sometimes fictitious) detail“the mystery has been heightened by many embellishments in subsequent retellings”Synonyms: embroideryType of expansion, enlargement
- a superfluous ornamentType of decoration, ornamentKinds festoon, vermiculation, boulle, flourish, cuspidation, filigree
- the act of adding extraneous decorations to somethingSynonyms: ornamentationType of decoration
Word of the day · Sep 29About this word
haphazardadjective
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Em·bel′lish·ment noun
Origin: Cf. F. embellissement.
1. The act of adorning, or the state of being adorned; adornment.
In the selection of their ground, as well as in the embellishment of it.— William Hickling Prescott
2. That which adds beauty or elegance; ornament; decoration; as, pictorial embellishments.
The graces and embellishments of the exterior man.— Isaac Taylor
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54