MEANING
1. To add ornamental details that make something more decorative or attractive.
2. To make an account more interesting by adding exaggerated or invented details.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- embellish a façade
- embellish with ornament
On the page
Carved leaves embellished the otherwise severe doorway.
She embellished the cover with a narrow strip of gold leaf.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- embellish
- Past tense
- embellished
- Past participle
- embellished
- Present participle
- embellishing
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- embellish
- Present continuous
- am/is/are embellishing
- Present perfect
- have/has embellished
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been embellishing
- Past
- embellished
- Past continuous
- was/were embellishing
- Past perfect
- had embellished
- Past perfect continuous
- had been embellishing
- Future
- will embellish
- Future continuous
- will be embellishing
- Future perfect
- will have embellished
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been embellishing
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: literary. Forms: embellish; embellishes; embellished; embellished; embellishing Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Third-person singular: embellishes.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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