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Meaning & use

ravishing

adjective·Advancedapprovingliterary

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UK/ˈrævɪʃɪŋ/
US/ˈrævɪʃɪŋ/

Meaning

  1. adjectivecomparableapproving

    So beautiful that it holds your gaze and fills you with delight.

    Grammar: Used before a noun or after be: a ravishing view, she looked ravishing.

    Patterns

    • look ravishing
    • ravishing in something

    She looked ravishing in a deep green gown.

    The hotel has a ravishing view of the harbor.

    The garden is ravishing in late spring.

Word forms

comparativemore ravishing
superlativemost ravishing

Common combinations

look ravishing
The bride looked ravishing as she walked in.
ravishing beauty
The actress was famous for her ravishing beauty.
ravishing smile
He disarmed everyone with a ravishing smile.
ravishing view
We stopped to admire the ravishing view over the valley.
quite ravishing
The dessert was quite ravishing to look at.

Synonyms and how they differ

gorgeous
Gorgeous is much more common in casual talk, while ravishing sounds more formal and a touch theatrical.
stunning
Stunning stresses the shock of how impressive something looks, whereas ravishing adds a sense of enchantment.
beautiful
Beautiful is the plain general word and ravishing is a stronger, more emphatic compliment.
captivating
Captivating focuses on holding attention, including through charm, not only looks.

Opposites

hideousplainunattractive

Word family

ravish verb
to fill with delight; in older writing, to seize by force
ravishingly adverb
in a delightfully beautiful way
ravishment noun
great delight or enchantment

Commonly confused: ravishing or ravenous?

ravishing vs ravenous

Ravenous means extremely hungry and has nothing to do with beauty.

Practice

The photographer described the sunset over the bay as absolutely ______.

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