adj. 1
Nice; wonderful.
It would be lovely to have a little more money to spend.
n. 1
An attractive, lovely person, especially a (professional) beauty.
a calendar depicting young lovelies in bikinis
n. 2
Term of fond address.

Related words

Word family: loveliness loverly lovingly
Phrases: lovely and

Forms

Plural: lovelies → darlings, pretties, pin-ups…

Choose the right word

Lovely, Sweet, Amiable, Loving or Lovable?

Lovely is often applied to externals; as, a lovely face. A sweet disposition is very sure to be amiable, the loving heart bringing out all that is lovable and lovely in character.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Example sentences

nice Suddenly, it started to look almost nice and warm.
beautiful Paris, which is on the Seine, is a beautiful city.
charming A young and charming gentleman offered me a candy.
delightful Nothing is more delightful to me than travelling.
loving I am loving Tatoeba despite all its imperfections.
handsome My boyfriend is smart, handsome, and friendly too.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
lovely		rising
nice		rising
beautiful		rising
charming		rising
delightful		steady
loving		rising

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

4 letters: nice¹, fair¹, dear¹
5 letters: sweet¹
6 letters: pretty², loving², divine², comely²
7 letters: winning², darling², elegant³, lovable³, angelic³, amiable⁴
8 letters: handsome², charming², adorable⁴, pleasing², lovesome
9 letters: beautiful³, enjoyable⁴, admirable⁴, endearing³
10 letters: attractive³, delightful³, enchanting³, delectable⁴
11 letters: pleasurable⁴

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (pretty² = 2 syllables).