Handsome \Hand"some\ (?; 277), a. [Compar. Handsomer; superl. Handsomest.]

[Hand + -some. It at first meant, dexterous; cf. D. handzaam dexterous, ready, limber, manageable, and E. handy.]

1. Dexterous; skillful; handy; ready; convenient; -- applied to things as persons. [Obs.]

That they [engines of war] be both easy to be carried and handsome to be moved and turned about. --Robynson (Utopia).

For a thief it is so handsome as it may seem it was first invented for him. --Spenser.

2. 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.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)