Embellish
verb
To make something more beautiful by adding decorations to it.
She embellished her dress with sequins and beads
Often appears as...
- embellish with
- embellish a story
verb
To add details to a story or statement to make it more interesting or exciting.
She couldn't help embellishing the story of her trip to Europe
Often appears as...
- embellish the truth
- embellish a story
verb
To make something more beautiful by adding decorations to it.
She embellished her dress with sequins and beads
Often appears as...
- embellish with
- embellish a story
verb
To add details to a story or statement to make it more interesting or exciting.
She couldn't help embellishing the story of her trip to Europe
Often appears as...
- embellish the truth
- embellish a story
Definition 1 of 2
Pro Tip 1/3Visual enhancement
Used to describe adding visual details that enhance appearance, often to make a plain object more striking.
He embellished the plain notebook with colorful stickers.
Pro Tip 2/3Not always positive
While it usually suggests improvement, it can imply excessive decoration to the point of gaudiness.
The costume was so embellished that it looked tacky.
Pro Tip 3/3Metaphoric use
Can describe improving things non-tangible, like enhancing a musical performance by adding flourishes.
The pianist embellished the melody with intricate trills.
Pro Tip 1/3Visual enhancement
Used to describe adding visual details that enhance appearance, often to make a plain object more striking.
He embellished the plain notebook with colorful stickers.
Pro Tip 2/3Not always positive
While it usually suggests improvement, it can imply excessive decoration to the point of gaudiness.
The costume was so embellished that it looked tacky.
Pro Tip 3/3Metaphoric use
Can describe improving things non-tangible, like enhancing a musical performance by adding flourishes.
The pianist embellished the melody with intricate trills.
Pro Tip 1/3Visual enhancement
Used to describe adding visual details that enhance appearance, often to make a plain object more striking.
He embellished the plain notebook with colorful stickers.
Pro Tip 2/3Not always positive
While it usually suggests improvement, it can imply excessive decoration to the point of gaudiness.
The costume was so embellished that it looked tacky.
Pro Tip 3/3Metaphoric use
Can describe improving things non-tangible, like enhancing a musical performance by adding flourishes.
The pianist embellished the melody with intricate trills.
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Video examples
Three ideas. Three...
like the letters I used to write to my grandma when I first started university, letters I filled with funny stories and anecdotes that I embellished for her amusement. And I remembered how I couldn't articulate the anxiety and fear that filled me as I tried to carve my tiny little life
Video examples
Abha Dawesar: Life in...
We might run up the stairs too quickly and we might get breathless. But the larger sense that we have of our lives, the slightly more abstract one, is indirect. Our story of our life is based on direct experience, but it's embellished. A novel needs scene after scene to build,
Video examples
This is Sparta: Fierce...
These stories may be embellished and depict Sparta at the apex of its power, so take them with a grain of salt. For Spartans, the purpose for their existence was to serve Sparta. On the day of their birth, elder Spartan leaders examined every newborn.
Video examples
Thoughts on humanity,...
and my framework, like the newly industrialized aspirational humanity, began to alter. In the urban rush for a new, more embellished survival, things started to look a little different. I met people who had descended from all over the world,
Video examples
Explore the Stunning...
walls richly embellished with carvings and mosaics escaped destruction by the Black Flag army when the town was sacked in 1887 rise before dawn to witness the tradition of cybot or morning alms where devotees offer food to the procession of
Video examples
Isaac Lidsky: What...
What do you fear? What lies do you tell yourself? How do you embellish your truth and write your own fictions? What reality are you creating for yourself? In your career and personal life, in your relationships, and in your heart and soul,
Video examples
How do you know what's...
Even if we were able to encode a memory accurately, recalling it incorporates new information that changes the memory. And when we later recall that event, we typically remember the embellished memory instead of the original experience.
Video examples
This is your brain on...
told by a very talented storyteller, Jim O'Grady. Jim So I'm banging out my story and I know it's good, and then I start to make it better -- by adding an element of embellishment.
Video examples
Why doesn’t the Leaning...
set about turning its cathedral square into a magnificent landmark. Workers embellished and enlarged the existing church, and added a massive domed baptistry to the plaza.
Video examples
A guerilla gardener in...
me, I beautify lawns, parkways. I use the garden, the soil, like it's a piece of cloth, and the plants and the trees, that's my embellishment for that cloth.
Video examples
Three ideas. Three...
like the letters I used to write to my grandma when I first started university, letters I filled with funny stories and anecdotes that I embellished for her amusement. And I remembered how I couldn't articulate the anxiety and fear that filled me as I tried to carve my tiny little life
Video examples
Abha Dawesar: Life in...
We might run up the stairs too quickly and we might get breathless. But the larger sense that we have of our lives, the slightly more abstract one, is indirect. Our story of our life is based on direct experience, but it's embellished. A novel needs scene after scene to build,
Video examples
This is Sparta: Fierce...
These stories may be embellished and depict Sparta at the apex of its power, so take them with a grain of salt. For Spartans, the purpose for their existence was to serve Sparta. On the day of their birth, elder Spartan leaders examined every newborn.
Video examples
Thoughts on humanity,...
and my framework, like the newly industrialized aspirational humanity, began to alter. In the urban rush for a new, more embellished survival, things started to look a little different. I met people who had descended from all over the world,
Video examples
Explore the Stunning...
walls richly embellished with carvings and mosaics escaped destruction by the Black Flag army when the town was sacked in 1887 rise before dawn to witness the tradition of cybot or morning alms where devotees offer food to the procession of
Video examples
Isaac Lidsky: What...
What do you fear? What lies do you tell yourself? How do you embellish your truth and write your own fictions? What reality are you creating for yourself? In your career and personal life, in your relationships, and in your heart and soul,
Video examples
How do you know what's...
Even if we were able to encode a memory accurately, recalling it incorporates new information that changes the memory. And when we later recall that event, we typically remember the embellished memory instead of the original experience.
Video examples
This is your brain on...
told by a very talented storyteller, Jim O'Grady. Jim So I'm banging out my story and I know it's good, and then I start to make it better -- by adding an element of embellishment.
Video examples
Why doesn’t the Leaning...
set about turning its cathedral square into a magnificent landmark. Workers embellished and enlarged the existing church, and added a massive domed baptistry to the plaza.
Video examples
A guerilla gardener in...
me, I beautify lawns, parkways. I use the garden, the soil, like it's a piece of cloth, and the plants and the trees, that's my embellishment for that cloth.
Example 1 of 10
Quote examples
Letitia Baldrige
American Writer
Good manners are cost effective. They not only increase the quality of life in the workplace, they contribute to employee morale, embellish the company image, and play a major role in generating profit.
Quote examples
Cassandra Clare
American Author
Creating characters is like throwing together ingredients for a recipe. I take characteristics I like and dislike in real people I know, or know of, and use them to embellish and define characters.
Quote examples
Leslie Jordan
American Actor
I talk about things that happened in my life. Now, do I embellish? Absolutely. Come on, we all do it. It makes for a better story. But it always comes from a germ of truth.
Quote examples
Laura Marling
English Musician
I'm a songwriter, and I understand artistic licence. We can embellish, go on little journeys and explore our inner selves. It can be quite self-indulgent.
Quote examples
Kate Smith
American Musician
I shall always respect the composer. If I embellish, it is his idea I am embellishing.
Quote examples
Ashley Madekwe
English Actress
I'm happy with embellishment in a chunky Prada-esque way, but I'm not into sequins!
Quote examples
Naseeruddin Shah
Indian Actor
I have had enough of an interesting life to not embellish it in any way.
Quote examples
Miranda Lambert
American Musician
I do write a lot from personal experience, but I also embellish a bit.
Quote examples
Lindsey Buckingham
American Musician
I just find things that work and embellish them.
Quote examples
Mike Birbiglia
American Comedian
Prose is all about embellishing and describing.
Quote examples
Letitia Baldrige
American Writer
Good manners are cost effective. They not only increase the quality of life in the workplace, they contribute to employee morale, embellish the company image, and play a major role in generating profit.
Quote examples
Cassandra Clare
American Author
Creating characters is like throwing together ingredients for a recipe. I take characteristics I like and dislike in real people I know, or know of, and use them to embellish and define characters.
Quote examples
Leslie Jordan
American Actor
I talk about things that happened in my life. Now, do I embellish? Absolutely. Come on, we all do it. It makes for a better story. But it always comes from a germ of truth.
Quote examples
Laura Marling
English Musician
I'm a songwriter, and I understand artistic licence. We can embellish, go on little journeys and explore our inner selves. It can be quite self-indulgent.
Quote examples
Kate Smith
American Musician
I shall always respect the composer. If I embellish, it is his idea I am embellishing.
Quote examples
Ashley Madekwe
English Actress
I'm happy with embellishment in a chunky Prada-esque way, but I'm not into sequins!
Quote examples
Naseeruddin Shah
Indian Actor
I have had enough of an interesting life to not embellish it in any way.
Quote examples
Miranda Lambert
American Musician
I do write a lot from personal experience, but I also embellish a bit.
Quote examples
Lindsey Buckingham
American Musician
I just find things that work and embellish them.
Quote examples
Mike Birbiglia
American Comedian
Prose is all about embellishing and describing.
Example 1 of 10
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