Spanish is amongst one the most beautiful languages. It is certainly spoken by some beautiful people too.
Yet if you wish to tell your Spanish-speaking special one how attractive they are, you might be unsure exactly how to say it. There are several ways in Spanish to say “beautiful”, simply like there are various ways to say it in English: like attractive, pretty, handsome, good-looking, cute, fit, hot or sexy, and so on.
It appears that beauty is a concept for which humans simply cannot stop inventing new words. This blog will show you some of the most common Spanish adjectives used for “beautiful”, and explain the finer aspects of their usage.
Read this blog by Hello-Hello and you will never be short of a method to tell a beautiful Spanish speaker that you like how they look.
Bello/Bella (Beautiful)
Bello/bella is a safe and, all-purpose word that one can use to mean “beautiful” or “lovely”. It is a bit formal, specifically, in Spain, but it can describe anything, beautiful people, beautiful clothes, a beautiful view, a beautiful heart. It is quite close to the noun bellezza, which means beauty.
Bonito/Bonita (Pretty or Nice)
These words also means beautiful, but not quite as good as bello. It is closer to pretty or nice. This adjective is more common compared to bello. It can describe almost anything, not only a person.
One needs to be careful, while seeing bonito on a menu. While used as a noun it refers to a kind of fish.
Lindo/Linda (Lovely)
Lindo/linda is quite common in Latin America compared to Spain (and is also quite common in Brazilian Portuguese). It is similar in meaning to bonito/bonita: it could mean “beautiful”, “pretty”, “lovely”, or “nice”.
In Latin America one can also use lindo as an adverb. For instance, ella canta lindo means she sings beautifully.
Guapo/Guapa (Handsome)
Guapo/guapa is a word with certain regional variations. Quite commonly, it describes an attractive person, particularly male, and is not actually used for beautiful objects or places.
In some parts of Spain, however, guapo is used liberally. As well as meaning “attractive” when talking about a person, more usually, it can mean something such as “cool” or “awesome”.
Hermoso/Hermosa (Gorgeous)
One more common word, hermoso/hermosa is said for beautiful people, places, and things. It is a bit more wide-ranging than bello – translations consist of “beautiful”, “gorgeous”, “nice”, or even (in Latin America) “noble”.
Keep in mind that bello had a noun cousin called belleza? Hermoso has the same relationship with hermosura, which means “beauty”. You may also say una hermosura meaning “a beautiful woman”.
Atractivo/Atractiva (Attractive)
As the word indicates, it means attractive. One can use it in a similar way as in English for places, people, and things.
El atractivo is a masculine noun that means attraction, appeal, and charm.
Precioso/Preciosa (Lovely or Gorgeous)
One can call a person, place or an object precioso/preciosa. It means they are “gorgeous” or “lovely”. The English word “precious” can make sense too: for instance, a diamante (diamond) is a piedra preciosa (precious stone).
Radiante (Radiant)
Another word that is quite similar to the English – radiante means “radiant” or “glowing”. It is not just limited to describing people: for instance, una mañana radiante stands as “a radiant/beautiful morning”.
Sexy/Sexi (Sexy)
No prizes for guessing what sexy means, it is a recent import from English. Like several such anglicismos, the spelling is not consistent. Sometimes it is written in the original English way (“sexy”), but at times it’s written as sexi to better match Spanish spelling rules.
Bombón (Sweet Like Chocolate)
A bombón is a kind of small chocolate or candy, the exact kind depends on your dialect. But it also means “an attractive person”, a “beauty” or “stunner”. Thus, call your lover a bombón if you wish them to know that you find them sweet.