pulchritudinous

P3U1L1C3H4R1I1T1U1D2I1N1O1U1S1
/ˌpʌlkɹɪˈtjuːdɪnəs/

adjective

Having great physical beauty.

Scrabble 23

Meanings

adjectivepulchritudinous (comparative more pulchritudinous, superlative most pulchritudinous)

comparative more pulchritudinous · superlative most pulchritudinous

  1. literaryHaving great physical beauty.

    But Shedemei had long since grown out of her adolescent jealousy of pulchritudinous girls.

    1994, Orson Scott Card, The Ships of Earth
    2 more examples

    “The first example in each series,” Mike offered, “would be, on the basis of my associational analyses of such data, of such pulchritudinous value as to please any healthy, mature human male.”

    1966, Robert A. Heinlein, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress

    “I had standing instructions to let any pulchritudinous females into Mr. Cooke’s dressing room,” Mike admitted. “Pulchritudinous? He really said that?” “No, I said that.”

    1998, Carole Nelson Douglas, Cat in a Flamingo Fedora
  2. obsoleterareThat endows pulchritude; beautifying.

Synonyms & antonyms

Similar

adjectiveused of persons only; having great physical beauty

Similar

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latinpulchritūdō
  2. Latinpulchritūdin-
  3. Englishpulchritudinous

From Latin pulchritūdin- + -ous, from oblique stem of Latin pulchritūdō, from pulcher + -tūdō. By surface analysis, pulchritude + -ous.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek καλός
  • καλός (kalós)having great physical beauty
Chinese Mandarin 美麗 /美丽
  • 美麗 /美丽 (měilì)having great physical beauty
Danish fager
  • fagerhaving great physical beauty
Finnish hyvännäköinen
  • hyvännäköinenhaving great physical beauty
French somptueux
  • somptueuxhaving great physical beauty
Hebrew יפה תואר
  • יפה תוארhaving great physical beauty
Icelandic fagur, fallegur
  • fagurhaving great physical beauty
  • fallegurhaving great physical beauty
Japanese 美しい
  • 美しいhaving great physical beauty
Latin pulcher
  • pulcherhaving great physical beauty
Polish urodziwy
  • urodziwyhaving great physical beauty
Cite this entry
APA

pulchritudinous. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pulchritudinous

MLA

“pulchritudinous.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pulchritudinous. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pulchritudinous,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pulchritudinous.

Source: pulchritudinous on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.