What does ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’ mean?
To “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” means to judgments of beauty are subjective. The modern form is 19th-century (Margaret Wolfe Hungerford, 1878); the underlying sentiment is much older and appears in classical writers.
Origin
- The modern form is 19th-century (Margaret Wolfe Hungerford, 1878); the underlying sentiment is much older and appears in classical writers.
How to use it
- Common in taste and design debates.
- Example: You may not like the painting, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Source:
Last verified: 2026-07-18
- Definitions and origins are drawn from public-domain reference works, primarily Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898), with modern usage notes clearly marked.