美人|びじんbijin[1]atamadaka (head-high)

1. nounbeautiful woman; (a) beauty; belle; good-looker
   スミス夫人ふじんは美人びじんで有名ゆうめいだった。↗

   Mrs. Smith was a famous beauty.

• Synonym美女びじょNeutralA beautiful woman; largely interchangeable with 「美人」, but favored in headlines and publicity, as in 「美女と野獣」.
• Synonym傾城けいせいWrittenWritten/formal prose for a castle-toppling beauty; also a general term for courtesans (「遊女」). Classical flavor.
• Synonym小町こまちNeutralA woman famed as a beauty in her local area, as in 「秋田小町」; from the poet Ono no Komachi.
• Synonym佳人かじんWrittenWritten/formal prose for a beautiful woman, seen mostly in set phrases such as 「佳人薄命」.
• Synonym麗人れいじんWrittenWritten/formal prose for a woman of striking beauty, with an elegant air, as in 「男装の麗人」.
• SynonymべっぴんCasualColloquial, slangy word for a pretty girl, with a Kansai and old-fashioned flavor.
• Related傾国けいこくWrittenWritten/formal prose for a peerless, state-toppling beauty; can also mean a courtesan. Classical flavor.
• Related美姫びきWrittenWritten/formal prose: literally a beautiful princess, extended to beautiful women generally; archaic elegance.
• Related尤物ゆうぶつWrittenWritten/formal prose for an outstanding thing or a woman of peerless beauty; rare in modern usage.
• Related美形びけいNeutralA person with strikingly good looks, male or female; common in anime and casual speech, whereas 「美人」 mainly refers to women.
• Related蛾眉がびWrittenWritten/formal prose; stands for a beauty via her curved eyebrows, found mainly in Chinese-style poetry and prose.
• Antonym醜女しゅうじょWrittenWritten/formal prose for an ugly woman, the direct opposite of 「美人」; carries a derogatory tone.
• Antonym不美人ふびじんNeutralA euphemistic opposite of 「美人」: a woman who is not good-looking.

Everyday choices for a beautiful woman are 「美人」 and 「美女」. Use 「美形」 for a strikingly good-looking person of either sex, 「～小町」 for a locally famed beauty, and colloquial 「別嬪」 for a pretty girl. 「佳人」 and 「傾城」 belong to classical literature; the remaining written terms are rare or archaic.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

1. 美うつくしい女性じょせい。女性じょせいが美うつくしいこと。