You received a birthday gift from a coworker. You are opening it in front of her. It's a shirt for you. You want to make her think that you're happy about the gift, so you say:
How lovely!
How (adjective)!
The expression "How lovely!" means that something is very lovely. "How ___" is an expression to show that you feel a strong and surprising emotion about something.
Note that "How ___!" is only used by itself. You never use it in a sentence like "This shirt is how lovely."
Other great examples of "How ___!" include:
How wonderful!
How beautiful!
How embarrassing!
How sweet of you!
a lovely (thing)
The word "lovely" means "nice" or "beautiful". But it sounds more strongly positive than "nice". It's a word that's often used by older and more conservative women.
Things that can be called "lovely" include:
- The weather.
What a lovely day!
- A person.
Don't you look lovely!
- Clothes, household decorations, and other pretty objects.
I found a lovely bedspread on sale at Macy's.
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