beauty is in the eye of the beholder

English

Alternative forms

• beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder

Etymology

First use appears c. 1630 or c. 1642.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbjuːti ɪz ɪn ðiː aɪ əv ðiː bɪˈhəʊldə/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Proverb

beauty is in the eye of the beholder

1. Different people have different views on what is beautiful; beauty is subjective.
   • 1642, Charles Sorel, La Maison des Jeux, page 57:

     He is referring to the relativity of "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" an idea that became popular in the 18th cent.

Translations

people have different ideas of what is beautiful

• Arabic: الْجَمَالُ فِي عَيْنِ النَّاظِرِ (al-jamālu fī ʕayni n-nāẓiri), ^{(please verify)} الْجَمَالُ مَقْرُون بِعَيْنِ الْمُلَاحِظِ (al-jamālu maqrūn biʕayni l-mulāḥiẓi)

  Moroccan Arabic: كل خنفوس عند امه غزال (kulla ḵanfūs ʕand ummu ḡzāl), القرد فعين امه غزال (el-qard f-ʕīn ummu ḡzāl)

• Bulgarian: красота́та е в очи́те на гле́дащия (krasotáta e v očíte na glédaštija)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 情人眼裡出西施／情人眼里出西施 (zh) (qíngrén yǎnlǐ chū Xī Shī), 情人眼中出西施 (qíngrén yǎnzhōng chū Xīshī)

• Czech: krása tkví v oku pozorovatele
• Danish: skønhed ligger i øjet der ser
• Dutch: de schoonheid der vrijster ligt in 's vrijers oog
• Estonian: ilu on vaataja silmades
• Finnish: kauneus on katsojan silmissä
• French: il n’y a point de laides amours
• German: die Schönheit liegt im Auge des Betrachters (de)
• Hindi: खूबसूरती देखने वालों के आँखों में होती है (khūbsūrtī dekhne vālõ ke ā̃khõ mẽ hotī hai)
• Hungarian: a szépség a szemlélő szemében van
• Irish: nochtann grá gnaoi, folaíonn grá gráin, is geal leis an bhfiach dubh a ghearrcach féin
• Italian: la bellezza sta negli occhi di chi guarda
• Korean: 아름다움은 그것을 보는 사람 눈에 달려있다 (areumdaumeun geugeoseul boneun saram nune dallyeoitda)
• Malay:

  Jawi: ايلوق بوروق د مات اورڠ تقکن سام د مات کيت

  Rumi: elok buruk di mata orang takkan sama di mata kita

• Polish: nie to ładne, co ładne, ale to co się komu podoba
• Portuguese: a beleza está nos olhos de quem vê (pt) (Brazil), a beleza está nos olhos de quem a vê (Portugal)
• Romanian: frumusețea este în ochii privitorului
• Russian: не по хоро́шу мил, а по ми́лу хоро́ш (ne po xoróšu mil, a po mílu xoróš)
• Slovak: rása je v oku pozorovateľa
• Slovene: vsake oči imajo svojega malarja
• Swedish: skönheten ligger i betraktarens ögon
• Turkish: güzellik bakanın gözündedir

See also

• beauty is in the eye of the beer holder
• eye of the beholder

References

• Gregory Y. Titelman (1996) Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings, →ISBN, page 21
• Jennifer Speake, editor (2015), “BEAUTY is in the eye of the beholder”, in Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs, 6th edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 15.