11 Ways to Say Beautiful in Spanish
Everyone appreciates beauty, and all languages offer a variety of terms to express it. Yet, words for beautiful in one language don’t always translate directly into another.
Today we will explore a few ways to say beautiful in Spanish in a variety of situations.
For example, can all the terms be used to refer to an object, a place, or a person? Do these terms describe a person and also mean other things? How do we say beautiful to a man? How do we say beautiful to a woman?
1. Learn the Levels of Beauty: Words and Phrases for Being Beautiful in Spanish
First of all, I hope we’ll all agree that beauty has levels. We may just like something or love it. Likewise, something may seem to us just nice or beautiful.
So, if you’re learning Spanish and wonder how to say beautiful, check this simple chart with different ways of saying beautiful according to the level of beauty.
Later, we will untangle them a bit more.
2. Using Adjectives to Say Beautiful: Bonita, Caliente and Muy Buena
Spanish people have a wide array of options when it comes to saying that something or someone is beautiful, for example when flirting. Using adjectives in Spanish sentences is a great way to spice up your speaking in Spanish.
Hopefully, that's not the only time you'd say someone or something is beautiful, but if you'd like to learn more flirting vocabulary in Spanish, make sure to check out this video from Spring Spanish, a language learning platform I co-founded:
In the following chart, you will learn different Spanish adjectives that mean beautiful, and that can be used to refer to beautiful people, to a man, to a woman, and to an object or a place. Some are actually pretty similar to English words!
You’ll also find the English word and an example of usage as a reference.
Remember that in Latin America, different countries may prefer one option or another; you’ll find their preferences there, too!
Spanish adjectives that mean beautiful
| Spanish | English | Beautiful things/places | Beautiful men | Beautiful women |
| Hermoso Hermosa Divino Divina Spanish adjectives must agree in gender and number with the noun. | Beautiful Lovely Gorgeous Divine Heavenly Wonderful Adorable (Argentina, Uruguay, Peru) | Tienes unos ojos hermosos. – (You have beautiful eyes.) ¡Qué lugar hermoso! – (What a beautiful place!) Amar al prójimo es un mandato divino. – (Loving our neighbour is a divine commandment.) ¡Qué divino collar! – (What a beautiful necklace!) | ¡Hola, hermoso mío! – (Hello, my beautiful!) ¡Tu hermano es divino! – (Your brother is adorable!) | ¡Hola, hermosa! Te extrañé. – (Hello, beautiful! I missed you.) La novia está divina. – (The bride is beautiful.) |
| Precioso Preciosa | Beautiful Lovely Gorgeous Precious Valuable | ¿No es un perrito precioso? – (Isn’t it a lovely puppy?) Esta playa es preciosa. – (This beach is gorgeous.) El rubí es una piedra preciosa. – (Ruby is a precious stone.) Tu amistad es preciosa para mí. – (Your friendship is precious to me.) | Es un hombre realmente precioso. – (He’s a gorgeous man indeed.) Even though, “precioso” can (and does) occur in this sense, it’s more common to say that a man is guapo, guapísimo, hermoso, or muy atractivo” | Siempre eres bella, pero hoy sí que estás preciosa. – (You’re always pretty, but today you look really beautiful!) |
| Lindo Linda (Argentina, Uruguay) Bello Bella (Venezuela, Colombia) Bonito Bonita (Spain) | Pretty Nice Tender All the terms are known and used by Spanish speakers everywhere but may be preferred in some areas. In Spain and Argentina, bello is used in rather formal situations. | ¡Qué lindo gatito! ¡Qué bello gatito! ¡Qué bonito gatito! – (What a nice kitten!) | ¡Sos tan lindo, tan lindo, mi amor! – (You’re so, so gorgeous, my love!) Sos (Arg) = Eres (LatAm) ¡Qué bello eres, mi amor! ¡Qué bonito eres, mi amor! –(You’re so, so gorgeous, my love! | Es una niña muy linda. Es una niña muy bella. Es una niña muy bonita. – (She’s a beautiful girl.) |
| Guapo Guapa | Handsome Beautiful Wonderful (Spain) Brave Tough guy | ¡Qué casa más guapa! –(What a wonderful house! )(Not Latin America) | Eres el hombre más guapo del mundo. – (You’re the most handsome man in the world!) Es muy guapo cuando está con los amigos. –(He’s a tough guy when he’s with his friends.) | Oye, guapa, ¿bailamos? – (Hey beautiful, shall we dance?) ¡Qué guapa la niña! No llora con las inyecciones. –(What a brave girl! She doesn’t cry with the injections.) |
| Apuesto Used almost exclusively to refer to men, it is quite outdated. Spanish speakers prefer guapo. | Good-looking Handsome | Es un hombre muy apuesto. – (He’s a very handsome man.) | ||
| Atractivo Atractiva El atractivo (noun) | Attractive Attraction appeal | Me hizo una oferta muy atractiva. – (She made me a very attractive offer.) Debes visitar los atractivos turísticos de Cancún. – (You must visit Cancun tourist attractions.) | Tu primo es muy atractivo. –(Your cousin is very attractive.) El atractivo de Julián son sus ojos. – (Julian’s attractiveness are his eyes.) | Esta actriz es muy atractiva. – (This actress is very attractive.) Su atractivo es la sonrisa. – (Her charm is her smile.) |
| Estar bueno Estar buena (very informal) Sexy | Being nice, cool Being hot Sexy or hot | Tu nuevo carro está muy bueno. –(Your new car is very cool.) | ¡Qué bueno está José! – (José is very hot!) Antonio Banderas es muy sexy. –(Antonio Banderas is very sexy.) | La amiga de mi hermana está muy buena. –(My sister’s friend is really hot.) Penélope Cruz es muy sexy. – (Penélope Cruz is very sexy.) |
The adjective hot means caliente in Spanish. So, a hot chocolate is chocolate caliente.
But, if by hot you mean sexy or attractive and you’re referring to a person, you need to be very careful when you translate hot into Spanish!
When talking about a person, caliente is used to describe horny, so you could have an embarrassing time if you don’t think twice before saying the word.
Instead use this word or expression: “You’re very hot” is “Estás muy buena”, or “Eres muy sexy”.
Also, don't forget that a good start in a Spanish conversation could help you greet and meet people!
3. Learn to Flirt in Spanish: Say Beautiful and More With Conversation Based Chunking
Now that you’ve learned how to say beautiful in Spanish, you’re ready to learn how to flirt and how to say I love you in Spanish! Take a look at these videos and flirt like a local!
