Made something more attractive by adding decorative details, or exaggerated a story by adding false or unnecessary details.
From French 'embellir' combining 'em-' (to make) and 'beau' (beautiful) from Latin 'bellus'. Used since 14th century in both decorative and narrative contexts.
The double meaning of 'embellish'—to decorate OR to lie—shows how humans conflate beauty with truth; we add false details to make stories 'prettier' just as we add jewels to make clothes prettier.
Embellishment narratives stereotyped women's speech and writing as ornamental or decorative, dismissing substantive female voices as 'embellished' while male elaboration was 'eloquent' or 'rhetoric.'
Distinguish between decorative language and substantive elaboration; avoid using 'embellished' to dismiss or feminize serious expression from any gender.
["elaborated","decorated","enhanced","augmented"]
Female rhetoricians and orators like Sojourner Truth used deliberate embellishment as rhetorical power, yet were historically dismissed as frivolous.
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