bello
/ˈbɛl.lo/
The Italian phrase for 'good looking' is bello.
bello is used to describe someone who is physically attractive. While English often distinguishes between 'handsome' for men and 'beautiful' for women or objects, in Italian, bello can be used for both people and objects.
Which one should you use?
When describing a man, bello specifically translates to 'handsome' or 'good-looking'. Additionally, while bello can mean 'beautiful', the term Affascinante translates to 'charming' but is also frequently used to express that someone is good looking.
How does it change in a sentence?
The form of the word changes to agree with the subject: use bella for a feminine singular subject, bello for a masculine singular subject, belli for a masculine plural subject and belle for a feminine plural subject.
How do you pronounce it?
/ˈbɛl.lo/. The word has 2 syllables and the stress is on the 1st syllable.
Did you know?
- The word bello can be used as an exclamation to express surprise or even irritation, similar to how an English speaker might say 'Great!' when something goes wrong.
- When used as an intensifier, bello can mean 'quite' or 'considerably', such as saying bello lontano to mean 'quite far away'.
- The word bello can be used to describe a 'fine' or 'good' amount of time, such as un bel po', which means 'quite a few' or 'a good deal'.
Examples in context
- Tom è molto bello.Tom is very good-looking.This sentence is useful for showing how to use bello to describe a person.Tatoeba #2620348 by Guybrush88, translation #3442356 by CK
- Il ragazzo è molto belloThe boy is very good looking
- La donna è molto attraenteThe woman is very good looking
- L'uomo è affascinanteThe man is charming/good looking
- Quel ragazzo è proprio figo!That boy is really good looking!
- Ma guarda che belloccio!Look at this handsome fellow!
- Quel ragazzo è molto bello.That boy is very good looking.
- Hai un fratello bello.You have a handsome brother.
- 1 more sentence on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Giulia and Matteo are looking at a photo of a friend.
- MatteoGuarda Marco, è davvero bello!Look at Marco, he is really good looking!
- GiuliaSì, è molto bello in questa foto.Yes, he is very handsome in this photo.
- MatteoPensi che sia simpatico?Do you think he is nice?
- GiuliaNon lo so, ma è molto bello.I don't know, but he is very good looking.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry bello, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
