handsome is as handsome does
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Also seen as: handsome is that handsome does
Meaning · English
A person's character is more important than their appearance
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
As the saying goes, ‘ handsome is as handsome does’.
British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Listed on Wikipedia “List of proverbial phrases” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Equivalents & related
Common questions
What does “handsome is as handsome does” mean?
A person's character is more important than their appearance
Is “handsome is as handsome does” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.
What is the closest equivalent?
“cái nết đánh chết cái đẹp” (Tiếng Việt) — near equivalent.