embellish
/ɪmˈbɛlɪʃ/verb
embellish is spelled E-M-B-E-L-L-I-S-H: 9 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 49,949th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, embellish means “To make more beautiful and attractive by adding ornamentation; to decorate” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in embellish?
| Letters | 9: E-M-B-E-L-L-I-S-H |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 49,949th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is embellish?
Embellish appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 49,949th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce embellish?
- /ɪmˈbɛlɪʃ/
- /ɛm-/
Embellish has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-embellish.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of embellish
- embellishes present, singular, he/she/it
- embellishing participle, present
- embellished participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does embellish mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To make more beautiful and attractive by adding ornamentation; to decorate.
The old book cover was embellished with golden letters
- 2
To enhance by adding something not strictly integral or necessary.
- 3
To make something sound or look better or more acceptable than it is in reality; to distort, embroider, or even misrepresent or lie.
to embellish a story, the truth
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Embellish in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | embellir |
| German | bereichern, schmücken, verschönern , ausschmücken, verbrämen, schönreden |
| Portuguese | embelezar |
| Spanish | embellecer, hermosear , adornar, atildar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does embellish come from?
From Middle English embelishen, from Old French embellir, from em- + bel.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).