Word for more than handsome

I think, in the USA, if a man said another man was «beautiful» it might be construed to be non-hetersexual in nature.

If he said the man was a «beautiful person» it would, as GreenWhiteBlue said, generally be thought of as refering to his character and not his appearance and I would not think it would carry the same baggage.

There is, from my experience, a certain generalized homophobic attitude in the USA that would cause such a comment by a man about a man to raise eyebrows. There might be some exceptions in some very urbane areas, but through much of the USA I believe this to be the case.

If a girl said to me, «I think Brad Pitt is beautiful» and it was incumbent upon me to reply, I might say, «I guess you could say he is a good looking guy; not my type, though.»

My brother just got called beautiful recently and didn’t seem to like it so much. He thought it sounded weird (He is 34).

You are a beautiful person is definately better (that means if you are talking about there insides — their personality)

I might say: You are handsome. — If you want to compliment him on his God-given appearance.
If you want to compliment him as he looks handsome because of how he looks on a particular night you could say: You look handsome today/tonight/this morning/etc.

I agree; if you normally wear jeans and plaid shirts and now you are in white tie formal wear, then it would be acceptable to say, «My aren’t you handsome today.» (Straight faced or sarcastic)

Hi,

In United States, would it be a compliment if a woman tells a man, «you are beautiful»?

My boyfriend was telling me that I am beautiful, so I replied saying, «you are beautiful, too.» When I asked him if he would be offended if I use this adjective, he said that he wouldn’t. But I am not sure whether he really meant it or not.

Thanks

freevers, I agree with everything that has been said. Only to add this, that if you tell your boyfriend he’s beautiful, it tells me your relationship is very strong, not just casual. If it were casual, you might say «You look really nice» or «really good.» Beautiful is a superlative. If you’re exchanging such comments, then your relationship is quite intense. If it isn’t, then I wouldn’t use such superlatives.

I would have no hesitation in telling a man he was beautiful. I speak from an artistic point of view and in reference to the nude male body.

My late partner was completely beautiful and I frequently told him so. I particularly loved the tender sweep of his hip bones round to his buttocks.

Think of Michaelangelo’s «David». Or Rodin’s «The Kiss». You may understand what I mean.

I would have no hesitation in telling a man he was beautiful. I speak from an artistic point of view and in reference to the nude male body.

My late partner was completely beautiful and I frequently told him so. I particularly loved the tender sweep of his hip bones round to his buttocks.

Think of Michaelangelo’s «David». Or Rodin’s «The Kiss». You may understand what I mean.

Meadow Blue, I apreciate your aesthetic tastes. However, do be aware that very few men would be flattered to be told their hip bones have a tender sweep…

Meadow Blue, I apreciate your aesthetic tastes. However, do be aware that very few men would be flattered to be told their hip bones have a tender sweep…

When you are covering that tender sweep with kisses, I don’t think they mind!

I had no complaints from mine. Besides, I never used those words to him, just told him how beautiful he was.

I would have no hesitation in telling a man he was beautiful. I speak from an artistic point of view and in reference to the nude male body.

My late partner was completely beautiful and I frequently told him so. I particularly loved the tender sweep of his hip bones round to his buttocks.

Think of Michaelangelo’s «David». Or Rodin’s «The Kiss». You may understand what I mean.

Your post brought tears to my eyes, Meadow ~ Bravo!

I don’t see anything wrong with describing a man as beautiful.

However, it is important to note that it has different connotations when used for a woman versus a man.

I beautiful woman is just a beautiful woman, but a beautiful man is a man who is especially good looking/cute/gorgeous etc.

Beautiful could also describe the way in which a person thinks, or thinks about things (e.g. the move, Beautiful Mind).

SparkNotes, in their plot overview to the Picture of Dorian Gray, write :»Dorian is a cultured, wealthy, and impossibly beautiful young man who immediately captures Basil’s artistic imagination.» Does «beautiful» refer to the artistic point of view mentioned by Meadow Blue above or can it be considered a synonym of goodlooking?

Dorian Gray was written about 125 years ago. Times change; language changes too. If that book was written in 2017 the word choice might very well be different.

I know a pair of 19 year old twins. The older girl is pretty; her «kid brother» (four minutes younger) is «very pretty».

The «girl is pretty» is a compliment.

The «younger brother is very pretty»; it is a veiled statement. It implies a certain feminine quality to the prettiness. Most men would find being called «pretty» or «very pretty» demeaning. Being called «beautiful» (appearance) would be worse.

Yes, we have the expression pretty boy to refer to a man who is good looking, but in a more effeminate way. (Putting that into Google images throws up Zac Efron and Orlando Bloom.)

I’m not sure that beautiful is a worse expression. I think beautiful when used of a man can be more positive, often to do with his character or possibly in an artistic fashion. (Google images gives me Leonardo di Caprio.)

Yes, we have the expression pretty boy to refer to a man who is good looking, but in a more effeminate way. (Putting that into Google images throws up Zac Efron and Orlando Bloom.)

I’m not sure that beautiful is a worse expression. I think beautiful when used of a man can be more positive, often to do with his character or possibly in an artistic fashion. (Google images gives me Leonardo di Caprio.)

I agree. I specified that:
Being called «beautiful» (appearance) would be worse.

Saying, «He is a beautiful man; he donates both his time and his money to many charities», would not be denigrating in any way. It is a positive relating to his character.

That’s a subjective opinion, Michael. For most native speakers, ‘beautiful’is not a natural word to use of a man, as we have seen in this thread.

So what should I say: «He is as handsome as a sunset» or «He is as good-looking as a sunset? He is as … as a sunset, speaking about his look.

But I definitely can. The words handsome and good-looking are inferior to beautiful. So if a colleague or a neighbor tells me that I’m handsome or good-looking it will be ok for me. But if a very close person says it to me, I will think that she doesn’t like me very much. By close people I want to be called beautiful, gorgeous or stunning. It’s my personal opinion and it has the right to exist.

«He is as beautiful as a sunset sounds great!

Fine, but it is not very helpful in a forum to which people come to ask about what is normal and natural in English.

It was natural to use beautiful speaking about very good-looking men more than a century ago. But in the 20th century people stopped doing it thinking that only women are a beautiful gender, only women are very pleasant to look at. Men can be just physically attractive but their attractiveness is inferior to women’s attractiveness. But now this stereotype is becoming a thing of the past. Now many people consider that feminine and masculine beauty are equal and both exist. That’s why many young women want to call their good-looking boyfriends beautiful nowadays and there are many men who see nothing bad in such a compliment. Others who don’t like it prefer to be called hot or sexy. Handsome and good-looking don’t work for many young people.

It doesn’t matter what you think. It doesn’t even matter if you make a compelling argument for your usage.

It doesn’t make this a «standard usage.» It just makes this your idiosyncratic usage.

This forum is set up to discuss the nuances of meaning in different dialects of English. It isn’t set up to promote and defend idiolects.

Beautiful means exciting aesthetic pleasure. Is a handsome man a man exciting aesthetic pleasure? If not then what is a male equivalent of beautiful? The word that has the same strength and power.

Beautiful came into English from French. The French word beau (belle) means beautiful and is used for describing both women and men. The Russian equivalent of beautiful is красивый (красивая) and it’s used to describe both men and women. The Spanish word hermoso (hermosa) is also used for both men and women. Does handsome mean a beautiful in a manly way? By beautiful here I mean aesthetically pleasing, very attractive.
Beautiful means exciting aesthetic pleasure. Is a handsome man a man exciting aesthetic pleasure? If not then what is a male equivalent of beautiful? The word that has the same strength and power.

I’m sorry, but I think we’re drifting a little bit outside what our forum is designed to accommodate here.

There are contexts — especially poetic or literary ones — in which you could undoubtedly refer to a male as «beautiful» but equally there are other contexts in which it would just sound bizarre. We’ve looked at a couple of examples earlier in the thread, but if your question is what is the male equivalent of «beautiful»? then the answer is «There isn’t one: it depends on what (or rather, who) you’re trying to describe, and the context in which you’re trying to do it.

It is not part of a shared dialect.

Ahem,

I

share Michael Demian’s ‘dialect’, and I’m sure there are

plenty

of other people who do …

… but no, it’s not ‘standard’

Several minutes ago I wrote this poem

She is as beautiful as sunrise.
He is as beautiful as sunset.
Two stunning people with shining eyes,
They are so happy that they have met.
She is as beautiful as the moon.
He is as beautiful as the sun.
Their love is playing a splendid tune
That can be pleasant to everyone.
She is as beautiful as the sky.
He is as beautiful as a sea.
I hope their feelings will never die
I hope together they’ll always be.