embellish

1 add details to [syn: embroider, pad, lard, aggrandize, aggrandise, blow up, dramatize, dramatise]

2 be beautiful to look at; "Flowers adorned the tables everywhere" [syn: deck, adorn, decorate, grace, beautify]

3 make more attractive by adding ornament, colour, etc.; "Decorate the room for the party"; "beautify yourself for the special day" [syn: decorate, adorn, grace, ornament, beautify]

4 make more beautiful [syn: beautify, prettify] [ant: uglify]

English

Etymology

From embellir.

Pronunciation

• /ɪmˈbɛlɪʃ/, /Im"bElIS/

Verb

1. To make more beautiful and attractive; to decorate.

   The old book cover was embellished with golden letters

2. To make something sound or look better or more acceptable than it is in reality, to distort.

   to embellish a story, the truth

Synonyms

• adorn
• beautify
• decorate
• deck
• grace
• ornament
• prettify

Translations

An Embellishment is anything that enhances the appearance of something without having any functional purpose. A good example of this would be racing stripes (aka go-faster stripes) on a car.

In sewing and crafts, an embellishment is anything that adds design interest to the piece.

Common examples of embellishment in sewing and crafts

• appliqué
• embroidery, done either by machine or by hand
• piping made from either self-fabric, contrast fabric, or a simply a cord.
• lace, either pre-made or home-made
• fringe (sewing)
• beads
• batique
• pins as on a fishing hat or cowboy hat

Items that normally serve a function are also used as embellishment. For example

• buttons can be placed nowhere on the piece
• zippers can be unzipped and be used as piping, or simply stiched on
• buckles can be placed anywhere on the piece
• grommets can be placed anywhere even when there is no cord is looped through them
• sequins can be placed anywhere

See also

• Sewing
• Trim

adorn, apparel, array, beautify, bedeck, bedizen, belie, blazon, camouflage, caparison, color, convolute, cultivate, dandify, deck, deck out, decorate, develop, disguise, distort, dizen, doll up, dress, dress up, elaborate, emblazon, embroider, enhance, enrich, evolve, exaggerate, falsify, festoon, fig out, finish, fix up, flourish, fudge, furbish, furbish up, garble, garnish, gild, gild the lily, gloss, gloss over, grace, gussy up, improve, involve, load with ornament, magnify, mask, mature, miscite, miscolor, misquote, misreport, misrepresent, misstate, ornament, overcharge, overdo, overdraw, overlay, overload, overpaint, overstate, pad, paint, perfect, pervert, polish, prank, prank up, preen, prettify, primp, primp up, prink, prink up, redecorate, redo, refine, refurbish, ripen, season, set off, set out, slant, smarten, smarten up, spruce up, strain, titivate, trick out, trick up, trim, twist, understate, varnish, warp, whitewash