pulchritudinous

/pəlkrɪˈtudnəs/

Even though it looks (and sounds) like it would describe a disease or a bad attitude, pulchritudinous actually describes a person of breathtaking, heartbreaking...beauty.

Let's be honest: Your opportunities for using this word in casual conversation are probably pretty slim. But, just in case, let's do a quick run-down on the pronunciation: Pulchritudinous: "pul-kruh-TOO-di-nuhs." And one last note about this 15-letter, 5-syllable beast (which may win the award for least-beautiful word meaning "beautiful"): It's only used to describe people.

Definitions of pulchritudinous

1. adjective

   used of persons only; having great physical beauty
   “pulchritudinous movie stars”

   synonyms:

   beautiful

   delighting the senses or exciting intellectual or emotional admiration