English → Latin
“handsome” in Latin
pulcherbeautiful, fair, pretty; noble, honorable, excellentfōrmōsusbeautiful, handsome; aesthetic, well-formedspeciōsusgood-looking, handsome, beautiful; splendid, brilliant; showy, speciousvenustuscharming, friendly, lovely, pleasing, comely, beautiful, elegant; artistic, elegant; affable, elegant, charmingbellusbeautiful, pretty, handsome; pleasant, agreeable, charmingamoenuscharming, pleasant, agreeable, amenable; lovely, delightful, beautifulēlegānsfine, elegant, handsome; tasteful; fastidious, criticalēgregiusdistinguished, excellent, eminent; illustrious, honorableeximiusselect, choice; special, particular, exceptional, remarkable, extraordinary; exemptperpulcherVery beautiful.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
handsome
pulcher (general term, whether of ideal or material beauty; opposed to turpis, of persons or things; e.g., boy, town, dress, face, deed): formosus (well-shaped, relates to the external form of a person, less commonly of things, as used by Sen., Ep., 87, 5, domus formosa; opposed to deformis): speciosus (good-looking; it denotes a higher degree of beauty than formosus; opposed to turpis): venustus (charming, either from natural or artificial grace or beauty; e.g., girl, face, garden): bellus (pretty; of persons and things; e.g., girl, story, place, etc.): amoenus (pleasant, cheerful; in sober prose, of scenery only): elegans (tasteful, elegant; e.g., form, tone, poet, etc.): egregius: eximius (distinguished; e.g., deed, face): very handsome, perpulcher; perelegans.
Generous, considerable, Vid: HANDSOMELY, pulchre: venuste: belle: eleganter: suaviter: bene: egregie: eximie: praeclare. [SYN. in HANDSOME.]
Generously, liberally, Vid: HANDSOMENESS, Vid: BEAUTY.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for handsome?
- The usual Latin words for “handsome” are pulcher, fōrmōsus, speciōsus; also venustus, bellus, amoenus. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.