handsome

/ˈhæntsəm/

/ˈhænsəm/

Other forms: handsomest; handsomer

If your father is described as handsome, it means he is good-looking, attractive in a classically masculine way. If your mother is also called handsome, it means while she's striking, if not exactly pretty.

Handsome is always a compliment, an admiring way of describing someone, although it's sometimes used as a way to describe a woman who's not conventionally attractive but is still interesting-looking. You can use it to describe an object as well as a person, in which case you are most likely talking about something that's really well-made, or of an obviously high quality, like a particularly handsome oak dining-room table. Occasionally, people talk about a handsome amount of money or a handsome number of votes; this is a generally admiring way of describing almost anything.

Definitions of handsome

1. adjective

   pleasing in appearance especially by reason of conformity to ideals of form and proportion
   “"very pretty but not so extraordinarily handsome"- Thackeray”

   synonyms: better-looking, fine-looking, good-looking, well-favored, well-favoured

   beautiful

   delighting the senses or exciting intellectual or emotional admiration
2. adjective

   given or giving freely
   “a handsome allowance”

   synonyms: big, bighearted, bounteous, bountiful, freehanded, giving, liberal, openhanded

   generous

   willing to give and share unstintingly