Beautiful in a very striking or impressive way. Extremely attractive or magnificent.
From Old French 'gorgias' meaning 'elegant, fashionable', possibly related to 'gorge' (throat) - referring to elegant neckwear or the idea of something that catches in the throat from beauty.
Originally, 'gorgeous' described someone wearing fancy throat ornaments or ruffs - the kind of elaborate neckwear that marked the wealthy. The word literally meant 'well-throated' before it came to mean beautiful in general!
Historically applied predominantly to women as appearance praise; men rarely described as 'gorgeous,' reinforcing beauty as women's primary social value.
Use for all genders equally, or apply to non-human subjects (landscape, design). Note when appearance praise is actually relevant.
["striking","beautiful","visually compelling"]
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