beautify

/ˈbjuː.tɪ.faɪ/

//ˈbjuː.tɪ.faɪ// verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"beautify" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“beautify” is uncommon English (frequency #52,174 among 4,121 “B” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#52,174
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To make beautiful; to increase the beauty of.

Corpus desk

Index EN-beautify · beautify · English

beautify · rank #52,174 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #52,174
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH beadle

Nearest frequency peer: beadle (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “beautify”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “beautify” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for beautify
PropertyValue
Headwordbeautify
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/ˈbjuː.tɪ.faɪ/
Letters8
Frequency rank#52,174
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “beautify” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).beautifyfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “beadle” (#52,173), “beckoned” (#52,175), “Bayes” (#52,171). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “beautify” is #52,174. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

beautify is uncommon English at frequency #52,174 among 4,121 “B” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /ˈbjuː.tɪ.faɪ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for beautify, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English beutifien, from Old French beaute (“beauty”), from Latin bellus (“beautiful, fine”), + -ify, from Latin facio (“make”). The correct English form is beautify, spelled B-E-A-U-T-I-F-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    To make beautiful; to increase the beauty of.
  2. 2
    To become beautiful.
  3. 3
    To make oneself beautiful.
  4. 4
    Synonym of pretty-print.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how beautify appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. 1592, Robert Greene, Greene's Groats-Worth of Wit, London: William Wright, “Robertoes Tale” […] there is an vpstart Crow, beautified with our feathers, that with his Tygers hart wrapt in a Players hyde, supposes he is as well able to bombast out a blanke verse as the best of you:
  2. And now, / This ornament [i.e. beard] / Makes me look dismal will I clip to form; / And what this fourteen years no razor touch’d, / To grace thy marriage-day, I’ll beautify.

Etymology

From Middle English beutifien, from Old French beaute (“beauty”), from Latin bellus (“beautiful, fine”), + -ify, from Latin facio (“make”).

This word in other languages

embellecer(Español)embellir(Français)verschönern(Deutsch)embelezar(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "beautify"?
"beautify" is spelled B-E-A-U-T-I-F-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈbjuː.tɪ.faɪ/.
What does "beautify" mean?
As a verb, "beautify" means: To make beautiful; to increase the beauty of.
How do you pronounce "beautify"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "beautify" is /ˈbjuː.tɪ.faɪ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "beautify"?
From Middle English beutifien, from Old French beaute (“beauty”), from Latin bellus (“beautiful, fine”), + -ify, from Latin facio (“make”). See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "beautify", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

beckoned#52,175Bessemer#52,179Auvergne#52,161atropine#52,159

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list