How to Say Beautiful in Spanish: 17 Different Words with Examples and Audio
If you look around, you can probably find many things you could call “beautiful.”
The sky, flowers, a bird and its song. Maybe an attractive person walking by.
But using the same word for everything gets old pretty quickly. At some point, we need to expand our vocabulary and include a few synonyms.
With these 17 ways to say “beautiful” in Spanish, you’ll always have the perfect word for any situation.
Keep reading for all the words and the right context to use them in!
Contents
- 1. Bello / Bella
- 2. Hermoso / Hermosa
- 3. Bonito / Bonita
- 4. Lindo / Linda
- 5. Radiante
- 6. Guapo / Guapa
- 7. Atractivo / Atractiva
- 8. Precioso / Preciosa
- 9. Mono / Mona
- 10. Agradable
- 11. Bueno / Buena
- 12. Sexy / Sexi
- 13. Estupendo / Estupenda
- 14. Magnífico / Magnífica
- 15. Espléndido / Espléndida
- 16. Delicioso / Deliciosa
- 17. Rico / Rica
- How to Add Emphasis to Spanish Adjectives
- And One More Thing…
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1. Bello / Bella
Bello/bella quite literally means “beautiful.” However, it can also be used similarly to “lovely.”
Bello/bella can be used to describe people, places or things, so you can whip it out whenever you think anyone or anything is beautiful.
¡Qué bello es tu hijo! (How handsome is your son!)
Barcelona es una ciudad bella y llena de encanto. (Barcelona is a beautiful and charming city.)
Los vestidos en esa tienda son tan bellos. (The dresses in that store are so beautiful.)
2. Hermoso / Hermosa
While hermoso/hermosa also means “beautiful,” it’s a bit more flexible than bello/bella.
Hermoso/hermosa can also mean “handsome,” “gorgeous,” “noble” or “nice.” Colloquially, it can even mean “plump.”
Like bello/bella, hermoso/hermosa can be used to describe people, places or things.
Rony es un hombre hermoso y carismático. (Rony is a handsome and charismatic man.)
Las montañas son hermosas y pintorescas. (The mountains are beautiful and picturesque.)
Aquel cuadro es una obra de arte hermosa y expresiva. (That painting is a beautiful and expressive work of art.)
3. Bonito / Bonita
Bonito/bonita can mean “beautiful,” but it’s most often used like the English word “pretty.” However, it can also mean “lovely” or “nice.”
In Latin America, bonito can be an adverb to describe an action. In this case, it means “well” or “nicely.”
If you see bonito on a menu, though, proceed with caution, since it can also be a noun for a fish similar to tuna.
In short, the adjective bonito/bonita can describe a person, place or thing. In Latin America, the adverb bonito can commonly be used to describe an action.
Mi compañera tiene una familia bonita. (My coworker has a lovely family.)
Mi tía vive en una bonita calle en el campo. (My aunt lives on a pretty street in the country.)
Hizo un gesto bonito al ayudar al anciano a cruzar la calle. (He made a nice gesture by helping the elderly man cross the street.)
4. Lindo / Linda
Lindo/linda is another term that can be used to mean “beautiful,” but it’s usually used like “pretty,” “lovely,” “nice,” “cute,” “excellent” or “first-rate.” It can be used to describe people, places or things.
Like bonito, in Latin America lindo can act as an adverb to describe actions as “well” or “nicely” (for instance, someone might paint well or draw nicely).
Ellos tienen tres hijas lindas y educadas. (They have three pretty and polite daughters.)
El parque es un lindo lugar para almorzar. (The park is a lovely place to have lunch.)
Canta lindo en el coro de la escuela. (She sings beautifully in the school choir.)
5. Radiante
Radiante can mean “beautiful” like the English word “radiant.” It can also mean “splendid” or “joyful.”
Radiante can be used to describe people, places or things.
Se veía radiante el día de su boda. (She looked radiant on her wedding day.)
El jardín botánico es un lugar radiante, lleno de coloridas flores y exuberante vegetación. (The botanical garden is a radiant place, full of colorful flowers and lush vegetation.)
Los amaneceres en la playa son radiantes y llenos de colores. (Sunrises at the beach are radiant and colorful.)
6. Guapo / Guapa
Guapo/guapa is used like “handsome” or “good-looking.” It’s usually used to describe people.
Outside of this meaning, though, guapo/guapa can be used in several other contexts. It can be used as a noun that means “brave person,” and it 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, guapo can refer to a male movie lead.
Es más guapo que tu ex novio. (He’s more handsome than your ex-boyfriend.)
Mi abuela era muy guapa cuando era joven. (My grandma was very pretty when she was young.)
Las chicas se pusieron guapas para el evento. (The girls got dressed up for the event.)
7. Atractivo / Atractiva
Atractivo/atractiva literally means “attractive.” As an adjective, it can be used to describe people, places or things that are good-looking or appealing.
As a noun, atractivo can mean “attractiveness,” “attraction,” “charm” or “appeal.”
Él es un hombre muy atractivo con una sonrisa encantadora. (He’s a really attractive man with a charming smile.)
París es una ciudad muy atractiva para los amantes del arte y la cultura. (Paris is a very attractive city for lovers of art and culture.)
Los pantalones que compraron son realmente actractivos. (The pants they bought are really attractive.)
8. Precioso / Preciosa
Precioso/preciosa is used like “gorgeous” or “lovely,” but it can also mean “valuable” or “precious.”
Precioso/preciosa can be used to describe people, places and things.
El nuevo bebé de Camila es precioso. (Camila’s new baby is precious.)
Compraron una preciosa cabaña en las montañas. (They bought a precious cabin in the mountains.)
Me compré unas joyas preciosas. (I bought myself some precious jewels).
9. Mono / Mona
If you’ve studied Spanish in school, your first thought when you hear mono/mona is 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.”
¡Eres tan mono! (You’re so cute!)
Conocí a una chica muy mona en la playa. (I met a really pretty girl at the beach.)
¡Qué sombrero más mono! (What a nice little hat!)
10. Agradable
Agradable translates to “agreeable” or “pleasant.”
Agradable can 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.
Laura es una persona muy agradable, siempre está dispuesta a ayudar. (Laura is a very nice person, she’s always willing to help.)
El parque tiene un ambiente muy agradable, con árboles, bancos y un lago. (The park has a very nice atmosphere, with trees, benches and a lake.)
El aroma de las flores es muy agradable y crea un ambiente relajante en la habitación. (The scent of flowers is very pleasant and creates a relaxing atmosphere in the room.)
11. Bueno / Buena
As any Spanish speaker will tell you, the most common meaning of bueno/buena is “good.”
However, bueno/buena can also be used colloquially to describe an attractive person with the verb estar. When used in this way, bueno/buena has a slightly raunchier connotation—sort of like “sexy” or “hot.”
If you use it with ser to describe a person, then it means that they’re “good” in terms of character.
El amigo de Marcos está muy bueno. (Marcos’s friend is so hot.)
¿Has visto a la chica nueva? ¡Está buena! (Have you seen the new girl? She’s hot!)
Tu hijo es una buena persona. (Your son is a good person.)
12. Sexy / Sexi
This one should be easy to remember. Sexy/sexi means “sexy.” This word is derived directly from English. The spelling may vary since sexy is the exact English spelling and sexi is an attempt to make it more Spanish.
While sexy/sexi is 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.”
¿Por qué no te pones ese vestido sexi que usaste en tu cumpleaños? (Why don’t you put on that sexy dress that you wore on your birthday?)
Las bailarinas de respaldo en el concierto bailaron muy sexy. (The backup dancers at the concert danced really sexy.)
¡El actor de ese programa es tan sexy! (The actor from that show is so sexy!)
13. Estupendo / Estupenda
Estupendo/estupenda means “stupendous,” “great” or “marvelous.” It can be less literally used to describe things like the weather and places as being “beautiful.”
Estupendo/estupenda can be used to describe people, but in this case, you’d be using the literal definition and not “beautiful.”
La vista desde la cima de la montaña era estupenda. (The view from the top of the mountain was stupendous/beautiful.)
La comida en este restaurante es estupenda. (The food at this restaurant is excellent.)
Mi hermana es una estupenda bailarina. (My sister is an amazing dancer.)
14. Magnífico / Magnífica
Magnífico/magnífica literally means “magnificent” or “wonderful.”
Like estupendo/estupenda, magnífico/magnífica can be used like “beautiful” to describe things, the weather and places. However, when magnífico/magnífica is used to describe people it means “magnificent” or “wonderful,” not “beautiful.”
Juan es un cantante magnífico con una voz poderosa. (Juan is a magnificent singer with a powerful voice.)
El palacio es una obra de arquitectura magnífica. (The palace is a magnificent piece of architecture.)
El vestido que llevas puesto es magnífico, te queda muy bien. (The dress you’re wearing is beautiful, it suits you very well.)
15. Espléndido / Espléndida
Espléndido/espléndida is the equivalent of “splendid.” It can also mean “generous.”
Like estupendo/estupenda and magnífico/magnífica, espléndido/espléndida can be used more like “beautiful” when describing things (like weather or food) or places. When describing a person, it means “splendid” or “generous.”
María lucía espléndida en su vestido de gala. (María looked splendid in her evening gown.)
El atardecer de ayer fue espléndido. (Yesterday’s sunset was beautiful.)
Disfrutamos de una comida espléndida en nuestro restaurante favorito. (We enjoyed a splendid meal at our favorite restaurant.)
16. Delicioso / Deliciosa
Delicioso/deliciosa usually 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 places or things.
La heladería en la esquina tiene helados deliciosos. (The ice cream shop on the corner has delicious ice cream.)
Estoy leyendo un libro delicioso que me transporta a un mundo fascinante. (I’m reading a delightful book that transports me to a fascinating world.)
Tuvimos un día delicioso en la playa. (We had a lovely day at the beach.)
17. Rico / Rica
While rico/rica usually means “rich” (in wealth or flavor) or “delicious.”
However, in some countries, rico/rica can also mean “cute” or “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/rica means “rich” or “wealthy,” and when paired with estar to describe a person it gets closer in meaning to “sexy.”
Nos hizo una rica sopa con verduras de su huerta. (She made us a delicious soup with vegetables from her garden.)
¡Qué rico es bañarse en el mar! (How nice it is to swim in the sea!)
Ayer conocí a un chico rico en el gimnasio. (I met a cute guy at the gym yesterday.)
How to Add Emphasis to Spanish Adjectives
Regardless of how many vocabulary words you know, sometimes you just can’t find a word that’s strong enough. Luckily, there’s a simple way to add emphasis to Spanish adjectives: just add -ísimo or -ísima to the end of the word.
For instance, bueno (good) becomes buenísimo (very good/terrific). See how these words for “beautiful” become words meaning “very/extremely beautiful” or even “gorgeous”:
hermosa → hermosísima
lindo → lindísimo
guapa → guapísima
This is better suited to certain words and sounds awkward on the ends of some descriptors. Learn more about -ísimo adjectives with SpanishDict’s helpful lesson.
Now you have a long list of ways to describe something, somewhere or someone beautiful, and an easy way to add emphasis to your adjectives. Need more context? FluentU is a language learning program that uses Spanish videos to teach the language. You can look up these words in the program to get plenty of context, along with effective learning tools to help you study them.
FluentU takes authentic videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.
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With these vocabulary words, you’ll never find yourself at a loss for words in the face of beauty!
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)
And One More Thing…
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