English Dictionary

LOVELY (lovelier, loveliest)

Pronunciation (US): Play  (GB): Play

IPA (US): 

Irregular inflected forms: lovelier  Listen to US pronunciation  Listen to GB pronunciation, loveliest  Listen to US pronunciation  Listen to GB pronunciation

 Dictionary entry overview: What does lovely mean? 

LOVELY (noun)
  The noun LOVELY has 1 sense:

1. a very pretty girl who works as a photographer's modelplay

  Familiarity information: LOVELY used as a noun is very rare.


LOVELY (adjective)
  The adjective LOVELY has 2 senses:

1. appealing to the emotions as well as the eyeplay

2. lovable especially in a childlike or naive wayplay

  Familiarity information: LOVELY used as an adjective is rare.


 Dictionary entry details 


LOVELY (noun)


Sense 1

Meaning:

A very pretty girl who works as a photographer's model

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

cover girl; lovely; pin-up

Hypernyms ("lovely" is a kind of...):

photographer's model (a model who poses for photographers)


LOVELY (adjective)

 Declension: comparative and superlative 
Comparative: lovelier  Listen to US pronunciation  Listen to GB pronunciation
Superlative: loveliest  Listen to US pronunciation  Listen to GB pronunciation


Sense 1

Meaning:

Appealing to the emotions as well as the eye

Similar:

beautiful (delighting the senses or exciting intellectual or emotional admiration)

Derivation:

loveliness (the quality of being good looking and attractive)


Sense 2

Meaning:

Lovable especially in a childlike or naive way

Synonyms:

adorable; endearing; lovely

Similar:

lovable; loveable (having characteristics that attract love or affection)

Derivation:

loveliness (the quality of being good looking and attractive)


 Context examples 


Poor William! said he, dear lovely child, he now sleeps with his angel mother!

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

It looked a lovely face enough, and when compared with the real head in chalk, the contrast was as great as self- control could desire.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

You need not be too stuck on these lovely days, however, because these two planets will inch across the sky very slowly and be in close proximity and mathematical significance until mid-November.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

I only caught a glimpse of her at the moment, but she was a lovely woman, with a face that a man might die for.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The lady was good and lovely and accomplished, but he did not like her, and never saw his son after he married.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

A friend of mine and I had such a lovely cruise together off the Western Islands.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

And Dora returned, looking such a lovely little creature, that I really doubted whether she ought to be troubled with anything so ordinary.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

He did not know whether he would find Oz a lovely Lady or a Head, but he hoped it would be the lovely Lady.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

We had a lovely view, and saw the procession nearly all the way.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Miss Bennet's lovely face confirmed his views, and established all his strictest notions of what was due to seniority; and for the first evening she was his settled choice.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)



 Learn English with... Proverbs 
"Good men are scarce." (English proverb)

"If there is no financial involvement between relatives, the relationship is harmonious." (Bhutanese proverb)

"The ass went seeking for horns and lost his ears." (Arabic proverb)

"He who kills with bullets will die by bullets." (Corsican proverb)



ALSO IN ENGLISH DICTIONARY:


© 2000-2023 AudioEnglish.org | AudioEnglish® is a Registered Trademark | Terms of use and privacy policy
Contact