No Filter: 17 Pure, Perfect Ways to Say "Beautiful" in Spanish | FluentU Spanish Blog (2023)

If you’re familiar with theSpanish language, you’re no stranger to beauty.

After all, Spanish isa tremendously beautiful language—it’s no wonder that it’s often associated with romance.

Some would even say that it’sone of the most beautiful languagesin the world.

While your ultimate goal is no doubt to speak Spanish beautifully, until you get there you can at least learn how to say “beautiful” in Spanish.

It’s a step in the right direction.

Spanish has a number of different words that can be used to mean “beautiful.” With so many options, it can be hard to decide which word to use in which context.

But with these 17 lovely Spanish words for “beautiful,” you’ll always have the perfect word for any situation.

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Why Learn Spanish Words for “Beautiful”?

Learning Spanish words for “beautiful” will allow you to lavish praise on someone or something. “Beautiful” is a positive word whether you’re talking about a person or the weather, so having plenty of words for “beautiful” will allow you to pile on the compliments. And everyone loves compliments.

Additionally, learningSpanish words for “beautiful” will help you to woo someone. Spanish words for “beautiful” can certainly round out your Spanishpick-up linesand romantic words and phrases. Even people who don’t speak Spanish are often impressed by Spanish, so learning some key words can help you win over anyone you might be interested in.

Finally, learning Spanish words for “beautiful” will allow you tohave vivid descriptors for any situation. “For Dummies” emphasizes the importance of adjectives in writing in the lesson “Adding Adjectives to Make Your Writing More Descriptive.”Adjectives are important. It’s good to start with common Spanish adjectives, but as your language skills get more advanced, you’ll want to have more precise vocabulary.

How to Make Any Descriptor More Effusive

Regardless of how many vocabulary words you know, sometimes you just can’t find a word that’s effusive enough. Luckily, there’s a way to make adjectives more effusive.

Adding -ísimoor-ísimato the end of the word makes it a superlative, which is amore effusive word. For instance,bueno(good) becomesbuenísimo(very good). This can make any beautiful word that much more beautiful.

Of course, this is better suited to some words, as it sounds awkward on the ends of certain descriptors. Learn more about Spanish superlatives with SpanishDict’s helpful lesson.

1. Bello/a

Bello/bellaquite literally means “beautiful.” However, it can also be used similarly to “lovely.”

Bello/bellacan be used to describe people, places or things, so you can whip it out whenever you think anyone or anything is beautiful.

2. Hermoso/a

Whilehermoso/hermosaalso means “beautiful,” it’s a bit more flexible than bello/bella.

Hermoso/hermosacan also mean “handsome,” “gorgeous,” “noble” or “nice.” Colloquially, it can even mean “plump.”

Like bello/bella,hermoso/hermosacan be used to describe people, places or things.

3. Bonito/a

Bonito/bonitacan mean “beautiful,” but it’s most often used like the English word“pretty.” However, it can also mean “lovely” or “nice.”

In Latin America,bonitocan be an adverb to describe an action. In this case, it means “well” or “nicely.”

If you seebonitoon a menu, though, proceed with caution, since it can also be a noun for a fish similar totuna.

In short, the adjectivebonito/bonitacan describe a person, place or thing. In Latin America, the adverbbonitocan commonly be used to describe an action.

4. Lindo/a

Lindo/lindais another term that can be used to mean “beautiful,” but it’s usually used like “pretty,” “lovely,” “nice,” “cute,” “excellent” or “first-rate.”Itcan be used to describe people, places or things.

Like bonito, in Latin Americalindocan act as an adverb to describe actions as “well” or “nicely” (for instance, someone might paint well or draw nicely).

5. Radiante

Radiantecan mean “beautiful” like the English word “radiant.” It can also mean “splendid” or “joyful.”

Radiantecan be used to describe people, places or things.

6. Guapo/a

Guapo/guapais used like “handsome” or “good-looking.” It’s usually used to describe people.

Outside of thismeaning, though,guapo/guapacan be used in several other contexts.It can be used as a noun that means “brave person,” andit also has a wide variety of regional meanings.

For instance, in Spain, it can be used to describe anything (including things and places) that looks nice or it can be used to mean “cool” or even “pal.”

In Latin America, it can mean “gutsy,” but it can also mean “bully” or “braggart.”

In Central America, guapocan refer to a male movie lead.

7. Atractivo/a

Atractivo/atractivaliterally means “attractive.” As an adjective, it can be used to describe people, places or things that are good-looking or appealing.

As a noun, atractivocan mean “attractiveness,” “attraction,” “charm” or “appeal.”

8. Precioso/a

Precioso/preciosais used like “gorgeous” or “lovely,” but it can also mean “valuable” or “precious.”

Precioso/preciosacan be used to describe people, places and things.

9. Mono/a

If you’ve studied Spanish in school, your first thought when you hearmono/monais probably “monkey.” If you’ve been to Spain before, then the definition of“cute” may come to mind. It does have both these meanings, and it can mean “lovely” or “pretty” as well.

Use mono/mona wisely. Not only can it mean “lovely,” “pretty,” “cute” and “monkey,” but it also has a plethora of other possible meanings.

As a noun, it can mean “jumpsuit,” “joker” (in a deck of cards) and “withdrawal” (from drugs).

In Latin America, it can mean “yellow,” and in Colombia, it can be used to mean “blonde.”

10. Agradable

Agradabletranslates to “agreeable” or “pleasant.”

Agradablecan be used like “beautiful” to describe places and things. While it can also be used to describe people, its meaning is more purely “agreeable” or “pleasant” in this context.

11. Bueno/a

As any Spanish speaker will tell you, the most common meaning ofbueno/buenais “good.”

However, bueno/buenacan also be used colloquially to describe an attractive person with the verb estar. When used in this way, bueno/buenahas a slightly raunchier connotation—sort of like “sexy” or “hot.”

If you use it withserto describe a person, then it means that they’re “good” in terms of character.

12. Sexy/sexi

This one should be easy to remember.Sexy/seximeans “sexy.” This word is derived directly from English. The spelling may vary sincesexyis the exact English spelling andsexiis an attempt to make it more Spanish.

While sexy/sexiis most often used to describe a person, it can also be used to describe things like movies or clothing. Additionally, it can be used as a noun meaning “sex appeal.”

13. Estupendo/a

Estupendo/estupendameans “stupendous,” “great” or “marvelous.” It can be less literally used todescribe things like the weather and places as being “beautiful.”

Estupendo/estupendacan be used to describe people, but in this case, you’d be using the literal definition and not “beautiful.”

14. Magnífico/a

Magnífico/magníficaliterally means “magnificent” or “wonderful.”

Like estupendo/estupenda,magnífico/magníficacan be used like “beautiful” to describe things, the weather and places. However, whenmagnífico/magníficaisused to describe people it means “magnificent” or “wonderful,” not “beautiful.”

15. Espléndido/a

Espléndido/espléndidais the equivalent of “splendid.” It can also mean “generous.”

Likeestupendo/estupendaandmagnífico/magnífica, espléndido/espléndidacan be used more like “beautiful” when describing things (like weather or food) or places. When describing a person, it means “splendid” or “generous,” not “beautiful.”

16. Delicioso/a

Delicioso/deliciosausually means “delicious,” but it can also mean “lovely,” “charming” or “delightful.”

When used to describe food, it usually means “delicious,” but the other meanings apply when describing people, places or things.

17. Rico/a

Whilerico/ricausually means “rich” (in wealth or flavor) or “delicious.”

However, rico/rica can also mean “cute,” and in Latin America, it can also mean “lovely.” When it means“cute” or “lovely,” it’s usually being used to describe people, but it can also describe places or things.

In certain contexts,rico/ricameans “rich” or “wealthy,” and when paired withestarto describe a person it gets closer in meaning to “sexy.”

With these attractive, appealing and splendid vocabulary words, you’ll always have the word you need to describe something beautiful.

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