I'm just curious. Guys can call girls cute, pretty, hot, or beautiful, and I think we all have similar ideas of what each one means. I've only heard of guys being called cute and hot. Is there something else that a girl can call a guy that would mean the same as a girl being called beautiful?
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+1 y
I'm mainly going for the emotional angle here. Everyone knows that us girls get all mushy and everything when we're called beautiful. What would we need to say to a guy for the same effect?
As others have said, handsome is probably the most accurate equivalent. I don't quite know if it as strong of a word as beautiful necessarily, but I would certainly rate it higher than cute. It is probably a little less stronger than hot.
That being said, can one call a guy "beautiful" without him being weirded out or whatnot though? I would say that generally, yes, a guy would be flattered at it. I figure it has more of a connotation meaning something along the lines of graceful. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/beautiful From that, I would say it has individual differences upon the person. A guy who prides himself on his rugged image or possibly stereotypical manly-man lifestyle may be slightly knocked back at the idea of being called beautiful or cute because of said connotation.
As an additional point though, there are also lesser used descriptive words that would have more of an impact than handsome. Although equivalent to handsome, I feel like there are better words to use since handsome has sort of a go-to/standardized nature to it. If you use words like "stunning," "suave," or even "gorgeous" (although that one is a bit more girly), it would have a stronger impact. With a word like stunning, I would also say the other huge benefit of it is how the connotation is more gender-neutral. A person can be called stunning without it really meaning anything more, for instance. I'd argue a compliment with more unique diction is going to seem more thought out and have a stronger impact/resonate more, even if the word is literally equivalent to handsome.
To summarize everything... Handsome works as an equivalent to beautiful, but there are better words to use than handsome. Individualized compliments work great, but if that isn't doable, more unique vocab can have a stronger impact in my opinion.
Well, each guy is different, some will get all mushy to being called Cute, while some will have the same effect to Handsome. I guess a good universal word would be something like Hot. To be honest, guys are the ones supposed to be using a lot of words to describe the opposite gender, mainly because it effects them more than us guys. So really, there aren't a whole lot of words that can be used to the same effect as calling a girl beautiful, and I don't really have a word that matches it in my vocabulary to give you off of the top of my head.
"To be honest, guys are the ones supposed to be using a lot of words to describe the opposite gender, mainly because it effects them more than us guys."
The reasons it affects women more is not because there is any inherent defect in them but because society judges their worth by their beauty. To say that women need to be called with more flowery words is just exacerbating the problem. This is a great question. There should be a lot more options for describing a man's looks.
@cherryphi82 "The reasons it affects women more is not because there is any inherent defect in them but because society judges their worth by their beauty."... Eeh Throughout history women have always been described by they beauty, I mean some guys have too, but more of the focus was always on women.. I think that there is a natural component to it really..
@JDavid25 Hmm, yeah and that's where I think society is wrong. I've met plenty of men who looked like works of art. Some do so much work on their bodies and on how they present themselves. That should warrant appreciation and attention.
@cherryphi82 Yeah, I mean of course me bein a straight male will appreciate women much more.. But I think it's about even wit men and women.. Wit women maybe havin the edge in terms of maybe body shape, and makeup..
@JDavid25 But that's the point. How can this be objective? Having more testosterone naturally makes your muscles stand out and make a cleaner shape. Men are way more statuesque. Their bones and sinews and veins pop way more and men's skin is often firmer and more pert. Men naturally have more striking features than women. That's why they don't need makeup.
@cherryphi82 LMAO... Well thanks for liftin us up.. I can't disagree witchu on that.. You right it's most likely not an objective thing as men and women both have things to appreciate about each other..
there are very few guys that can be called beautiful. I have had the privilige of meeting 3 and I told all three of them that I think they are beautiful... I think it can be used when a guy has a perfect face... something similar to jared leto? that kinda perfect, almost too perfect features if that makes sense?
Most guys don't like being called cute, it has a girlie connotation, and hot for guys is the equivalent of sexy for girls - which is kind of a little too much for complimenting in my opinion.
Good luck.
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Opinion Owner
+1 y
Guys don't turn to gush when you call them handsome, which is as close to the female equivalent of beautiful as you're going to get. They'll just appreciate the compliment and that you find them attractive, not really anything deep emotionally going on there.
Everyone has different tastes. I personally think that Ryan gosling is not attractive anymore, while a lot of the girls on the internet worship him. I mean... his face is so plane and disproportionate to me! He is not ugly, but not the kind of make me turning my head if I see him on street, or to get my panty wet when he is around. There are plenty of guys that I find attractive, but for me ryan gosling who is known to be a sex symbole doesn’t do anything to me. So be sure that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Someone that is famous for his look can be seen ugly by another one
Beautiful and handsome are not the same things at all. Handsome is attractive physically. Someone who's beautiful has a beautiful soul. Have you ever just met someone and as you're talking to them you think "wow, this is a beautiful human being"? THat's how guys can be beautiful. they can be pure and seem perfectly imperfect.
I don't think that there's any difference. a handsom man is as attractive as a beautiful woman in my opinion. these are just different words that we got used to. but in Russian, for example, you call a beautiful girl "krasiva" and a handsome guy "krasavitz". basically the same word. maybe it works only in English xD
I know it goes against your nature as a female, but you could just keep it simple and say good looking, easy on the eyes, a looker, etc. that's actually your safest option anyways because otherwise he might not take it as a compliment, for example I hate being handsome and prefer hot. some guys on this site have said the opposite
I'd go with handsome. It doesn't give that mushy feeling, but it does give that "Fuck yeah, I'm a man" feeling, which is pretty awesome. For some, anyway.
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+1 y
I’ve been “cute” thousands of times but not hot or handsome very often.
I think “cute” can mean different things from different women. Some will say that to morbidly obese guy who has a “cute” personality others will say that for the translation “I want to get in your pants asap”.
But men can’t afford to be vain without losing face. But it’s nice to pick up on clues. Certain compliments tell us where we stand with the girl. Women shouldn’t be afraid to use them more often if they are interested in a guy.
Anything but cute. I think it's a universal feminine adjective. Either that or it implies they look young.
Using it for kids: "He/she's a cute kid."
I would prefer my partner say something like "wow babe you're even sexier in my eyes now 😉" if I did something for her rather than "Aww babe you're so cute"
Anyway for guys i think "you're looking good" can do it. Or "i like looking at you" seeing how some guys get weirded out getting called beautiful. Don't ask me why because i don't see what's wrong with that but that's probably just me.
No men are not only supposed to be called handsome, I call my husband beautiful and he does the same to me all the time. And there's never been any issues with that. Handsome is just the manlier way to call a man beautiful, because apparently a man being called beautiful is feminine smh. But really there's no difference between being called beautiful, handsome, attractive, or good looking. They all mean someone that is attractive, and pleasing to the eyes.
I actually got called beautiful a short while ago, i found it weird to be honest. The best equivalent i can think of is "handsome", but its not really the same. Then again what are considered good female qualities aren't the same things as what are considered good male qualities, so maybe there shouldn't be an equivalent word?
Handsome... or maybe rugged But instead of complementing our physique complement the way we carry ourselves. I find myself much more turned on when someone tells me that they think im strong willed, or motivated, or if a girl says she knows she can always trust me, than when im told "hey, your looking handsome today"
Ah, the perils of being of completely Anglo-Saxon extraction! Those with some sort of Latin background can accept the appelation "Beautiful man" without losing the slightest bit of masculinity. Yes, we can be beautiful, surrounded by beautiful ladies, fighting beautiful duels with beautiful swords or knives...
Well the guy in the photo is gorgeous!!! But he is both pretty and kinda hot. For the pure form of beauty as in terms of symmetry and attractive features, I would use beautiful and perfect. I'm not a native speaker though.
Men usually prefer to be called handsome, maybe guapo if they speak Spanish. Although I doubt any man would complain if they were called gorgeous, beautiful, cute, good-looking, or hot.
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