Phrase guide

beauty is in the eye of the beholder

proverb · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /ˈbjuːti ɪz ɪn ðiː aɪ əv ðiː bɪˈhəʊldə/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

proverb

Meaning 1

Different people have different views on what is beautiful; beauty is subjective.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

First use appears c. 1630 or c. 1642.

Across languages

Translations

36 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: الْجَمَالُ فِي عَيْنِ النَّاظِرِ (al-jamālu fī ʕayni n-nāẓiri) — people have different ideas of what is beautiful
  • Arabic: كل خنفوس عند امه غزال (kulla ḵanfūs ʕand ummu ḡzāl) — people have different ideas of what is beautiful
  • Arabic: القرد فعين امه غزال (el-qard f-ʕīn ummu ḡzāl) — people have different ideas of what is beautiful
  • Bulgarian: красота́та е в очи́те на гле́дащия (krasotáta e v očíte na glédaštija) — people have different ideas of what is beautiful
  • Chinese Mandarin: 情人眼裡出西施 /情人眼里出西施 (qíngrén yǎnlǐ chū Xī Shī) — people have different ideas of what is beautiful
  • Chinese Mandarin: 情人眼中出西施 (qíngrén yǎnzhōng chū Xīshī) — people have different ideas of what is beautiful
  • Chinese Mandarin: 各花入各眼 (gèhuārùgèyǎn) — people have different ideas of what is beautiful
  • Czech: krása tkví v oku pozorovatele — people have different ideas of what is beautiful
  • Danish: skønhed ligger i øjet der ser — people have different ideas of what is beautiful
  • Dutch: de schoonheid der vrijster ligt in 's vrijers oog — people have different ideas of what is beautiful
  • Estonian: ilu on vaataja silmades — people have different ideas of what is beautiful
  • Finnish: kauneus on katsojan silmissä — people have different ideas of what is beautiful
  • French: il n’y a point de laides amours — people have different ideas of what is beautiful
  • Georgian: ვისაც ვინ უყვარს, მისი ლამაზიც ის არის (visac vin uq̇vars, misi lamazic is aris) — people have different ideas of what is beautiful
  • German: die Schönheit liegt im Auge des Betrachters — people have different ideas of what is beautiful
  • Hebrew: הַיּוֹפִי הוּא בְּעֵינֵי הַמִּתְבּוֹנֵן (ha-yófi hu b'enéy ha-mitbonén) — people have different ideas of what is beautiful
  • Hindi: खूबसूरती देखने वालों के आँखों में होती है (khūbsūrtī dekhne vālõ ke ā̃khõ mẽ hotī hai) — people have different ideas of what is beautiful
  • Hungarian: a szépség a szemlélő szemében van — people have different ideas of what is beautiful
  • Irish: is geal leis an bhfiach dubh a ghearrcach féin — people have different ideas of what is beautiful
  • Italian: la bellezza sta negli occhi di chi guarda — people have different ideas of what is beautiful
  • Korean: 제 눈에 안경 (je nune an'gyeong) — people have different ideas of what is beautiful
  • Malay: ايلوق بوروق د مات اورڠ تقکن سام د مات کيت — people have different ideas of what is beautiful
  • Malay: elok buruk di mata orang takkan sama di mata kita — people have different ideas of what is beautiful
  • Persian: علف باید به دهان بزی شیرین بیاید (alaf bâyad be dahân-e bozi širin biyâyad) — people have different ideas of what is beautiful
  • Polish: nie to ładne, co ładne, ale to co się komu podoba — people have different ideas of what is beautiful
  • Portuguese: a beleza está nos olhos de quem vê — people have different ideas of what is beautiful
  • Portuguese: a beleza está nos olhos de quem a vê — people have different ideas of what is beautiful
  • Romanian: frumusețea este în ochii privitorului — people have different ideas of what is beautiful
  • Russian: не по хоро́шу мил, а по ми́лу хоро́ш (ne po xoróšu mil, a po mílu xoróš) — people have different ideas of what is beautiful
  • Slovak: rása je v oku pozorovateľa — people have different ideas of what is beautiful
  • Slovene: vsake oči imajo svojega malarja — people have different ideas of what is beautiful
  • Spanish: la belleza está en los ojos del que la mira — people have different ideas of what is beautiful
  • Spanish: la belleza está en los ojos del observador — people have different ideas of what is beautiful
  • Spanish: la belleza está en los ojos delmirante — people have different ideas of what is beautiful
  • Swedish: skönheten ligger i betraktarens ögon — people have different ideas of what is beautiful
  • Turkish: güzellik bakanın gözündedir — people have different ideas of what is beautiful