What it means
زیبایی (zibâyi) means beauty or elegance, the quality of being visually or morally attractive. Both the base word زیبا (zibâ, beautiful) and the suffix ایی that turns it into an abstract noun are native Persian. The word covers physical beauty, the beauty of nature, and the aesthetic quality of art or music. A close synonym is زیبایی شناسی (zibâyi-shenâsi), which means aesthetics as a field of study. The simpler contrast is زشتی (zeshti, ugliness). In everyday speech Iranians also use خوشگلی (khoshgeli, prettiness) as a more colloquial alternative for physical appearance, while زیبایی can carry a broader, more elevated sense.
How to use it
- زیبایی طبیعت آدم رو آروم میکنه. (zibâyi-ye tabi’at âdam ro ârum mikone) “The beauty of nature calms a person.”
- به زیباییش حسادتم میشه. (be zibâyish hasâdatam mishe) “I feel envious of her beauty.”
- این تابلو زیبایی خاصی داره. (in tâblo zibâyi-ye khâssi dâre) “This painting has a special kind of beauty.”
- زیبایی فقط ظاهر نیست. (zibâyi faqat zâher nist) “Beauty is not only appearance.”
Cultural note
Beauty, or زیبایی, has a central place in Persian literary and philosophical tradition. Classical poets such as Hafez and Rumi treat physical beauty as a reflection of divine perfection, and the beloved’s face in Persian poetry is rarely merely personal: it stands for the beauty of existence itself. In contemporary Iranian culture, a strong beauty industry, including cosmetics and rhinoplasty clinics, keeps the concept of زیبایی very much in everyday conversation.