“Bellissimo” in Italian
Bellissimo: Meaning and Use
Bellissimo is the absolute superlative of bello, an Italian masculine adjective that means “beautiful”. In Italian superlatives, the suffix –issimo is used to intensify the quality of the adjective, just like the English adverb very.
This means that bellissimo can be translated as “very beautiful” and all its corresponding synonyms.
Ho incontrato un uomo bellissimo in panetteria.
I’ve met a handsome man at the bakery.
Bellissimo can also refer to the beauty of an experience or a thing. In fact, it’s very common to hear things like bellissima vacanza (lit. beautiful holiday) or bellissima serata (lit. beautiful night). In these cases, it translates as “wonderful” or “amazing”.
È stata una vacanza bellissima. Dobbiamo rifarla l’anno prossimo!
It was such a wonderful vacation. We have to do it again next year!
Ho passato una bellissima serata con te. Non vedo l’ora di incontrarti di nuovo!
I’ve had an amazing evening with you. I can’t wait to see you again!
Bellissimo: Pronounciation
Bellissimo has two double consonants, which are often difficult for some foreign speakers to pronounce. My tip to properly pronounce double consonants is to keep that articulation position a little bit longer.
By this I mean, instead of producing a stronger sound, try to make it last longer: both the L and S sounds in Italian are alveolar sounds, which means you put the tip of your tongue on the part of palate right before the front teeth to produce them.
If you are spelling a word with double S or double L you just produce that sound for a bit longer.
If you want to know more about Italian pronunciation, here’s a beginner’s guide written by the University of Stanford.
Gender and Number of “Bellissimo”
Sei bellissimo (you are very beautiful) is a wonderful thing to say to someone, but be careful not to misgender them. The word we saw so far is a masculine singular adjective, but as you might know already, Italian has two genders and two numbers.
Italian adjectives must always agree in gender and number with the noun they describe, and the same applies to the superlative form bellissimo.
It results that bellissima is the feminine singular form, and bellissimi / bellissime are, respectively, the masculine and feminine plural counterparts.
La mostra era bellissima, dovresti andarci!
The art show was amazing, you should go there!
Mario fa dei disegni bellissimi.
Mario makes some wonderful drawings.
Le tue nuove scarpe sono bellissime.
Your new shoes are amazing.
Synonyms of “Bellissimo”
Since it is so commonly used, the word bellissimo has many synonyms. Here are some of the most common ones:
- stupendo – amazing;
- fantastico – wonderful/fantastic;
- splendido – splendid;
- affascinante – fascinating;
Another way you can convey the meaning of bellissimo is to use its simple adjectival form: molto bello, which is the exact literal translations of “very/really beautiful”.
Some might argue that there is little difference between bellissimo and molto bello. I believe this tiny difference is only given by the intention: bellissimo will make you sound more enthusiastic and sincere.
And Speaking of Beautiful…
… today, while I am writing, is una giornata bellissima (a very nice day), so I’m going to stop here. After all, that was everything you need to know about this common adjective and its meaning.
Use this word to compliment someone in Italian, so you can both practice its use and make new friends! And since we’re here, go listen this amazing song by Francesco de Gregori called Buonanotte Fiorellino!
