What's the difference between debonair and handsome?

Debonair


Definition:

  • (a.) Characterized by courteousness, affability, or gentleness; of good appearance and manners; graceful; complaisant.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) In Slipstream , her raw and honest memoir, she recounts how her debonair father, David, would kiss her on the lips and grope her, while her mother, Kit, a former ballerina, "thought that everything to do with sex was absolutely disgusting".
  • (2) Keen to make the most of the global interest the film has aroused, the city council on Friday unveiled a series of itineraries for tourists and locals keen to follow in the debonair steps of Jep Gambardella, The Great Beauty's protagonist.
  • (3) Here's the problem, Britain: these men all possess debonair charm, refined good looks, and the ability to deliver intelligent, nuanced performances.
  • (4) A wiry 57, he arrives for lunch at Bar Pitti on Sixth Avenue, New York City, looking debonair in a cashmere Canali sports jacket.
  • (5) It has become a deeply personal fight with her main opponent, the debonair MP and mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, from former president Nicolas Sarkozy’s right-wing Les Républicains party.
  • (6) Debonair and unflappable, former journalist Les Hinton served as Rupert Murdoch's consigliere for over a decade, smoothing the ruffled feathers of the rich and powerful whenever they were on the receiving end of stories published in News International's stable of titles.
  • (7) Craig was initially seen as a somewhat risky choice for Bond before his debut in Casino Royale in 2006, viewed by some as insufficiently debonair and arched-eyebrowed, even too blond.
  • (8) That bodes well for James Bond fans: work on a 23rd movie about Ian Fleming's debonair spy has been frozen since April while MGM, which owns the Bond franchise, sorts out its problems.
  • (9) A roguish and debonair art dealer, our hero has been described as an amoral Bertie Wooster with psychopathic tendencies.
  • (10) Depp, who only last week agreed to play Charlie Mortdecai in a film based on Kyril Bonfiglioli's books about the eccentric and debonair English art dealer, will once again portray the Mad Hatter in Hollywood's latest riff on the classic Lewis Carroll tale.
  • (11) There is a similar bifurcation in drama: while the film shows the delightfully homemade sound effects being created for a broadcast of Macbeth, the lighter end of theatre is represented by Eric Maschwitz, the debonair head of variety, seen urging a producer to make sure a music-hall act’s jokes are cleaned up (“It won’t get by for a moment, old boy”).
  • (12) It’s the only place I’ve kept going to for all the time I’ve lived here.” DEBONAIR is a DJ and hosts a bi-weekly show on NTS Radio .
  • (13) When Piano, who is a debonair 76, got the call late last summer in the back of a New York cab, his immediate reaction was an endearing, almost indignant, disbelief.
  • (14) Tall, immaculate and debonair into old age, Henry continued to work as a match-day host at White Hart Lane until 2006, when ill health forced him to give up his commitment to his beloved Spurs.
  • (15) Dastardly, debonair, dapper, devious, dignified and more than a little degenerate, the Lannister family has hit its stride.
  • (16) For my maiden voyage, I settled on a ride from London to Paris, offered on BlaBlaCar by a debonair Parisian named Jean K, who, according to reviews, was de confiance (trustworthy).
  • (17) Laura Wade-Gery could be a Barbara Taylor-Bradford heroine or a Jackie Collins boardroom badass: debonair, moneyed and connected as only a diplomat’s daughter could be, well-travelled, ambitious, successful – and about to become a mother at 50.

Handsome


Definition:

  • (superl.) Dexterous; skillful; handy; ready; convenient; -- applied to things as persons.
  • (superl.) Agreeable to the eye or to correct taste; having a pleasing appearance or expression; attractive; having symmetry and dignity; comely; -- expressing more than pretty, and less than beautiful; as, a handsome man or woman; a handsome garment, house, tree, horse.
  • (superl.) Suitable or fit in action; marked with propriety and ease; graceful; becoming; appropriate; as, a handsome style, etc.
  • (superl.) Evincing a becoming generosity or nobleness of character; liberal; generous.
  • (superl.) Ample; moderately large.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) He campaigned for a no vote and won handsomely, backed by more than 61%, before performing a striking U-turn on Thursday night, re-tabling the same austerity terms he had campaigned to defeat and which the voters rejected.
  • (2) "The company and its shareholders have been handsomely rewarded for that."
  • (3) My son was born healthy, strong and very handsome, in spite of his dangerous start.
  • (4) It just seems a bit of a waste, I say, given that he's young and handsome and famous.
  • (5) Miklos Haraszti, whom I encountered in Budapest, had the looks of a small Spanish grandee in some Velázquez painting; dark, unnervingly handsome, serene.
  • (6) I thought Mark was perfect: smart, romantic (he wrote me love notes in year 9 French) and quite handsome.
  • (7) It's actually very taboo to stop and say, "OK, I'm in a band and I'm really successful and my boyfriend's a pop star and he's really handsome and lots of girls fancy him, but I don't want to be with him."
  • (8) Reith, “his dour handsome face scarred like that of a villain in a melodrama”, was “a strange shepherd for such a mixed, bohemian flock … he had under his aegis a bevy of ex-soldiers, ex-actors, ex-adventurers which … even a Dartmoor prison governor might have had difficulty in controlling”.
  • (9) Moyes's plan for Carrick and Marouane Fellaini to "tag-team" West Ham's striker worked handsomely and Carroll's only moment of threat came after 15 minutes, when he headed straight at David de Gea.
  • (10) In this life,” he said, smiling, “you have to make some money.” He then spelled out the cartel’s proposition: it would pay Sirleaf handsomely in exchange for his help in using Liberia as a transit hub for smuggling cocaine from Colombia into Europe.
  • (11) And he adds: “Women usually vote for the more handsome man.” Asked how German chancellor Angela Merkel had come to power in a country where women vote, he changed the topic to sports teams coached by men.
  • (12) I see a small group strolling along, a tall, handsome man at the centre.
  • (13) Some art historians thought Leighton was gay – his handsome friend, the Italian painter Giovanni Costa, was the only guest recorded as staying overnight – while others believed he never had a lover of either sex.
  • (14) A handsome pair of strippedback brick apartment buildings will frame a forthcoming bridge across the river, leading to a woodland park beyond.
  • (15) To wit: the near offence taken when speculation first surfaced that Stewart was dating Cargile – what an absurd decision given that she used to go out with the handsome, perfectly stubbled Robert Pattinson, right?
  • (16) One Saturday afternoon in September 1954, a handsome, faintly smiling god looked up from the London mud.
  • (17) SNL finally paid off handsomely, but in a delayed-reaction sort of way."
  • (18) While some of its outreach involved active image management, some parts were pragmatic, such as its offer of handsome salaries for engineers able to maintain the oil fields on which Isis relies for black-market income.
  • (19) The handsome finish went high past the left hand of Víctor Valdés.
  • (20) Among MME, youthfulness, handsomeness, and sexiness are important, promoting versatility in place of specificity when mentioning sexual acts.