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kaunistella — meaning in English

Finnish → English · translate English → Finnish instead

English meaning

  • burnish verb To make (something, such as a surface) bright, shiny, and smooth by, or (by extension) as if by, rubbing; to polish, to shine.
  • embellish verb To decorate something to make it more attractive.
  • flatter verb To praise someone, often more than they deserve, in order to please them or win favour.
  • glorify verb To praise someone or something highly, or treat it as deserving great honour.
  • prettify verb To make pretty or prettier, to make more attractive, especially only in a superficial way.
  • spin verb To turn around quickly on an axis.
  • sugar noun A sweet crystalline substance, usually made from sugar cane or sugar beet, used to sweeten food and drink.
  • sugarcoat verb To make something unpleasant seem more acceptable or attractive than it really is.

Senses

kaunistella is used for these senses in English:

  • burnish (figuratively) To make (someone or something) appear positive and highly respected.
  • cook the books (idiomatic, by extension) To falsify an account of an event.
  • embellish To make something sound or look better or more acceptable than it is in reality; to distort, embroider, or even misrepresent or lie.
  • flatter To portray someone to advantage.
  • gild the pill .
  • glorify (transitive) To make (something) appear to be more glorious than it is; regard something or someone as excellent baselessly.
  • prettify To make pretty or prettier, to make more attractive, especially only in a superficial way. [from 17th c.]
  • put lipstick on a pig (idiomatic) To superficially alter something in the hope of making it seem more appealing than it is in actuality.

burnish — full definition

  1. verb To make (something, such as a surface) bright, shiny, and smooth by, or (by extension) as if by, rubbing; to polish, to shine.
  2. verb Of a stag: to remove the velvet (“skin and fine fur”) from (its antlers) by rubbing them against something; to velvet.
  3. verb To make (someone or something) appear positive and highly respected.
  4. verb To become bright, glossy, and smooth; to brighten, to gleam, to shine forth.

embellish — full definition

  1. verb To decorate something to make it more attractive.
  2. verb To make a story sound more interesting or impressive than it really is, often by exaggerating or adding invented details.

Related Finnish words