beaut

English

Etymology

Clipping of beauty.

Pronunciation

• enPR: byo͞ot, IPA^(key): /bjuːt/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːt
• Homophones: butte, Bute, Butte

Noun

beaut (plural beauts)

1. (informal) Something or someone that is physically attractive.

   That new car of yours is a real beaut.

2. (informal) Something that is a remarkable example of its type.
   • 1942, Nelson Algren, Never Come Morning, published 2001, page 282:

     Bruno lifted his left hand out of the bucket in order to point out to Catfoot a lump, the size of a darning egg, over his left eye. […] "Ain't it a beaut, Cat? It's where he butted me."

   • 1994, Stephen Jay Gould, Eight Little Piggies: Reflections in Natural History, page 109:

     In his most famous quip, La Guardia once remarked, “When I make a mistake it's a beaut!”

   • 2000, James Patterson, The Midnight Club, page 272:

     Both of them were used to long surveillance stints. This looked like it might be a beaut.

Synonyms

• (someone that is physically attractive): See Thesaurus:beautiful person

Adjective

beaut (comparative beauter, superlative beautest)

1. (informal, especially Australia) Beautiful, splendid.
   • 1895, Elbridge Kingsley, Frederick Knab, Picturesque Worcester ...: Complete in Three Parts, page 40:

     An' there was posies all round Jim, He had a bran new suit, The first un that he ever had, An' everything was beaut. An' when the preacher told 'bout Jim— How ' twas he got the swipe— I saw most all them dandy swells A feelin' fer a wipe.

   • 1968, James Phillip McAuley, Quadrant:

     It was beaut to have him home again, and gee, you should have seen the bike he bought me from Paris. From the same factory as his own was made.

   • 1978, Kevin Gilbert, Living Black: Blacks Talk to Kevin Gilbert:

     She was very motherly towards me then and it was beaut. Before I was eighteen, there just wasn't any kind words. All I wanted to do was get away from there.

   • 1996, Madeleine St. John, A Pure Clear Light, 4th Estate, Limited:

     Yes, it was beaut.

Further reading

• 2015, Tom Dalzell, Terry Victor, The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, Routledge, →ISBN, page 135:

Anagrams

• tubae