handsome

HAN-suhm/ˈhæn.səm/

9 meanings of handsome

1
good-looking manadjective
Of a man or boy, attractive in a manly way, with a pleasing face and overall look.
Their son had grown into a tall, handsome young man with his mother's dark eyes.
He was handsomer than his brother but not nearly as charming.
UsageUsually said of men; for women, pretty or beautiful is usual, and a handsome woman suggests strong, stately looks.
Similargood-looking, attractive
Oppositeugly, unattractive
Note
Its natural foil for men is pretty: Ernest Hemingway, in A Moveable Feast (1964), gives Scott Fitzgerald a face between handsome and pretty, with fair wavy hair and a delicate long-lipped mouth; the boyish delicacy the word stops short of. Said of a woman, it praises something else again, a strong, imposing beauty.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
Ernest Hemingway wrote A Moveable Feast, first published in 1964. fadedpage.com
Hemingway describes Scott Fitzgerald as boyish, with a face between handsome and pretty. fadedpage.com
Hemingway describes Fitzgerald as having fair wavy hair and a delicate long-lipped mouth. fadedpage.com
2
nice-looking (things)adjective
Having a pleasing, attractive appearance, said of things as well as people.
The shop sells handsome leather notebooks that make good gifts.
The old bank is a handsome stone building on the corner of Main Street.
Similarattractive, fine, elegant, striking
Oppositeugly, unattractive, plain
Note
Middle English built the word from hand and -some, and it first meant easy to handle or use. It moved to “suitable” and “apt, clever” by the mid 16th century, turning to looks late in that century. Things qualify as readily as people: a tree, or a city hall of brick and stone.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
The Middle English word was formed from hand and -some. en.wiktionary.org
The original meaning was easy to handle or use. en.wiktionary.org
The meanings suitable and apt or clever developed by the middle of the sixteenth century. en.wiktionary.org
The appearance-related meaning developed in the late sixteenth century. en.wiktionary.org
3
quite largeadjective
Ample or moderately large, typically said of a sum of money.
She sold the cottage three years later for a handsome profit.
The senator won reelection by a handsome margin.
UsageMostly with money and wins: a handsome profit, salary or margin. It sounds pleased with the amount.
Similarsubstantial, hefty
Oppositepaltry, meager, slim
Note
Money is its natural company: a handsome salary, profit or sum, as when the essayist Vicesimus Knox writes of a man who accumulated a handsome sum of money.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
Vicesimus Knox was an essayist. en.wikipedia.org
Knox wrote of a man who accumulated a handsome sum of money. en.wiktionary.org
4
striking womanadjective
Of a woman, stately and statuesque, with a beauty that is masculine or otherwise commanding.
His aunt was a handsome woman, tall and broad-shouldered, with a commanding voice.
At sixty she was still handsome, with a strong jaw and silver hair swept back from her face.
Similarstriking, statuesque, imposing
Oppositeplain, unattractive
5
impressiveadjective
Good, fitting and well done, as a reply, gesture or result.
The losing candidate conceded in a handsome speech, thanking her opponent and urging her supporters to move on.
The orchestra gave a handsome performance of the symphony, crisp and well judged from start to finish.
Similarfine, admirable
Note
A handsome win is one that looks as good as it counts. Phil Dawkes, reporting for BBC Sport in 2011, sets City's run of handsome wins against Roberto Mancini's demand that the side learn to grind out results: style against grit. A big score belongs to the “ample” meaning; this one praises the quality of the play.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 2 facts
Phil Dawkes reported for BBC Sport in 2011. bbc.com
Dawkes contrasted City's series of handsome wins with Roberto Mancini's demand that the team learn to grind out results when playing poorly. en.wiktionary.org

Less common meanings

6
big-heartedadjective
Having a generous or noble character.
It was handsome of her to share the credit with the whole team.
Their old rival was handsome in defeat, shaking every hand and praising the winners.
UsageOften in the pattern it was handsome of someone to do something.
Similargenerous, gracious, magnanimous
Oppositemean, petty, ungracious
Note
George Meredith's The Ordeal of Richard Feverel (1859) uses it of fair dealing: be above board with me, says a self-styled plain man, and you'll find me handsome, open-handed in return.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
George Meredith wrote The Ordeal of Richard Feverel, first published in 1859. en.wikipedia.org
The passage concerns fair dealing; its speaker is Farmer Blaize, who describes himself as a plain man and promises to be handsome if treated openly. The item's wording is a paraphrase. gutenberg.org
7
bright weatheradjectivedialectal
Fine, clear, and bright, said of the weather.
We had handsome weather for the whole crossing.
It turned into a handsome day, clear and bright once the morning fog lifted.
Similarfine, fair, bright
Oppositefoul
8
adjectiveobsolete
Dexterous or skillful, said of people, or handy and easy to manage, said of things.
That they [engines of war] be both easy to be carried and handsome to be moved and turned about.
1551, Thomas More, A Fruteful
Laſtly, for a theife it is ſo handſome, as it may ſeem it was firſt invented for him
1596, Edmund Spenser, A Vewe of the Present State of Irelande
Note
The word's first idea, easy to handle, still shows through in this obsolete use. In Ralph Robinson's 1551 English translation of Thomas More's Utopia, war engines should be handsome to be moved and turned about (easy to shift, not fine to look at) and Edmund Spenser, writing in 1596, calls a thing so handsome for a thief that it seems invented for him. Read handy wherever this sense turns up.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 5 facts
The original meaning of handsome was easy to handle or use. en.wiktionary.org
Ralph Robinson's English translation of Thomas More's Utopia was first published in 1551. en.wikisource.org
Robinson's translation describes war engines as handsome to be moved and turned about, meaning manageable. more.letteraturaoperaomnia.org
1596 is the composition date of Spenser's A View of the Present State of Ireland, rather than its publication date; it was first published in 1633. en.wiktionary.org
Spenser's text describes a mantle as so handsome for a thief that it seems invented for him. The dialogue's speaker is Irenius. celt.ucc.ie
9
verbobsoletetransitive
To make someone or something handsome.

Practice

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Origin

From Middle English handsum, hondsom, formed from hand + -some (compare Dutch handzaam, German Low German handsaam). It originally meant "easy to handle or use", which led to "suitable" and "apt, clever" in the mid 16th century, and from there to the current approving senses in the late 16th century.

Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 6 facts

Handsome derives from Middle English handsum, hondsom. en.wiktionary.org
The word is formed from hand and -some. en.wiktionary.org
Dutch handzaam and German Low German handsaam are comparable forms. en.wiktionary.org
The original meaning concerned ease of handling or use. en.wiktionary.org
The meanings suitable and apt, clever developed by the mid-sixteenth century. en.wiktionary.org
The approving senses developed from those meanings in the late sixteenth century. en.wiktionary.org