beautify
gb/bjˈutɪfˌaɪ/ us/bjˈutɪfˌaɪ/
B2
English
Senses
0 senses
Verb
B2
action
1
make something more attractive
to make something look nicer
Usage pattern:
beautify [something/someone]
Common mistake:
Often used for improving appearance; it does not usually mean 'make clean' unless cleaning improves the look.
Synonyms
enhance (More general: improve quality or appearance.)
|
decorate (Focuses on adding ornaments or decorative items.)
|
adorn (Slightly more formal; suggests adding something attractive.)
Antonyms
uglify (Means to make something ugly.)
|
spoil (Means to damage the appearance or quality.)
Collocations
beautify the house
|beautify the room
|beautify the garden
|beautify the area
|beautify your home
|beautify the surroundings
|beautify the environment
|beautify the streets
|beautify the campus
|beautify a space
Themes
appearance
|daily_life
|arts
Examples
- They planted flowers to beautify the front yard.
- New lighting can beautify a small room without major renovations.
- The organization raised money to beautify the community center.
Learner examples
- We want to beautify our home.
- She used plants to beautify the balcony.
Verb
B2
process
2
make a place look better
to make a place look nicer
Usage pattern:
beautify [place/area/neighborhood]
Common mistake:
In this sense, it often implies planned improvements (trees, parks, street upgrades), not only decoration.
Synonyms
revitalize (Suggests bringing new life or activity, not just better looks.)
|
spruce up (More informal; often for small improvements.)
Antonyms
neglect (Means to fail to care for a place, often leading to deterioration.)
|
blight (Means to cause an area to become unattractive or run-down.)
Collocations
beautify the neighborhood
|beautify the city
|beautify downtown
|beautify the waterfront
|beautify the park
|beautify public spaces
|beautify the streetscape
|beautify the riverbank
|beautify the campus grounds
|beautify the town center
Themes
cities
|environment
|public_services
Examples
- The city plans to beautify the waterfront with new paths and trees.
- Volunteers spent the weekend picking up litter to beautify the river trail.
- A mural project helped beautify the underpass.
Learner examples
- They want to beautify the neighborhood.
- We planted trees to beautify the street.
Verb
B2
action
3
make yourself look prettier
to make yourself look more beautiful
Usage pattern:
beautify (yourself)
Common mistake:
In everyday speech, people more often say 'get ready', 'do my hair', or 'put on makeup' instead of 'beautify'.
Synonyms
groom (Emphasizes cleanliness and neatness rather than beauty.)
|
make up (Usually means applying cosmetics (makeup).)
Antonyms
unkempt (Describes being messy or not well cared for.)
|
dishevel (Means to make hair/clothes look untidy.)
Collocations
beautify yourself
|beautify the face
|beautify the skin
|beautify your look
|beautify your appearance
|beautify with makeup
|beautify with skincare
|beautify for a photo
|beautify for an event
|beautify before going out
Themes
appearance
|health_and_beauty
Examples
- She took an hour to beautify herself for the wedding.
- The app claims it can beautify your face in selfies.
- He joked that he needed five minutes to beautify before the video call.
Learner examples
- She beautified herself for the party.
Verb
C1
action
4
make something seem better
to make the truth sound nicer than it is
Usage pattern:
beautify [the truth/story/facts]
Common mistake:
This does not mean 'make beautiful' literally; it is often figurative and can imply dishonesty.
Synonyms
embellish (Suggests adding extra details, sometimes untrue.)
|
sugarcoat (Emphasizes making something unpleasant sound less bad.)
Antonyms
tell it like it is (Means to speak plainly and honestly.)
|
expose (Means to reveal the unpleasant truth.)
Collocations
beautify the truth
|beautify the facts
|beautify the story
|beautify the past
|beautify reality
|beautify a report
|beautify the details
|beautify the narrative
|beautify the record
|beautify the situation
Themes
communication
|media
|social_relations
Examples
- He admitted he had beautified the truth to avoid an argument.
- The brochure beautifies the history of the company and skips the failures.
- Don’t beautify the facts—just explain what happened.
Learner examples
- Please don’t beautify the truth.
Verb
technical
C1
process
5
format code for readability
to make code look neat by formatting it
Usage pattern:
beautify [code/file/script]
Common mistake:
In programming, 'beautify' usually means reformatting, not changing what the code does.
Synonyms
format (More general; may apply to text as well as code.)
|
pretty-print (Common technical term, especially for structured data.)
Antonyms
minify (Removes whitespace and shortens code for size, not readability.)
Collocations
beautify the code
|beautify the file
|beautify the script
|beautify HTML
|beautify CSS
|beautify JavaScript
|beautify the output
|beautify the markup
|beautify the JSON
|beautify the source
Themes
technology
|programming
|writing
Examples
- The editor can beautify the code with a single shortcut.
- Before committing, she beautified the JavaScript file to match the style guide.
- Use the tool to beautify the JSON so it’s readable.
Learner examples
- I beautified the code to make it easier to read.
Grammar
Dictionary form
beautify
IPA
GB/bjˈutɪfˌaɪ/
US/bjˈutɪfˌaɪ/
Syllables & stress
beau - ti - fy (3 syllables)
Stress on 1st syllable (beau)
Word forms
Verb
- Base: beautify
- 3rd Person Singular: beautifies
- Present Participle: beautifying
- Past: beautified
Word family
Forms
beautifies
verb
beautifying
verb
beautified
verb
Core family
Related words
beautification
noun
beautician
noun
Negative and opposite forms
ugly
adjective A2
uglify
verb
Expressions
beautify the truth
1/bjˈutɪfˌaɪ ðə tɹˈuθ/
fixed phrase
make the truth sound nicer
to make the truth sound better
Examples
- She beautified the truth about why she was late.
- The spokesperson beautified the truth to calm the public.
- He tends to beautify the truth when he tells stories.
beautify yourself
1/bjˈutɪfˌaɪ jʊɹsˈɛlf/
fixed phrase
make yourself look more attractive
to get ready to look beautiful
Examples
- She went upstairs to beautify herself before dinner.
- You don’t need to beautify yourself for a quick trip to the store.
- He said he’d call after he had time to beautify himself.