Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. one who possesses physical beauty, usu. of a girl or woman.

1862		Continental Mthly 2 262/1: Hopeful is not a beauty and though some of the rustic wits call him ‘Beaut’, he is well aware that they intend it for irony .
1889		Dead Bird (Sydney) 26 Oct. 4/4: Black-eyed Edith was a beauty with the accent on the bewt.
1893		S. Crane Maggie, a Girl of the Streets (2001) 56: Ain’t she a beaut? Ain’t she a dindy? Fer Gawd’s sake!
1895		J.S. Wood Yale Yarns 222: I heard one of them,—a Boston beaut—confide in a friend.
1896		W.C. Gore Student Sl. in Cohen (1997) 6: beaut, or bute. n. A beauty. Sometimes used in an ironical sense. He is a beaut, equivalent to he is a pretty fellow.
c.1900		Ford & Bratton [perf. Marie Lloyd] Just as if she didn’t know 🎵 Now tell me why that man should say, ‘Gee whizz, but that’s a beaut’.
1902		‘Billy Burgundy’ Toothsome Tales Told in Sl. 19: In plain Anglo-Saxon, she was a beaut.
1912		T.A. Dorgan Silk Hat Harry’s Divorce Suit 13 Jan. [synd. cartoon strip] The dapper Englishman was really speaking harshly to the Bowery beauts.
1914		Truth (Melbourne) 3 Jan. 6/5: A brazen, bucolic ‘beaut’ of 22, the daughter of a well-known cocky.
1929		J. Lait Broadway Melody 69: All sorts o’ men fall for musical-show beauts—from the best to the boloneys.
1931		P.J. Wolfson Bodies are Dust (2019) [ebook] ‘He’s got a yellow girl—and ain’t she a beaut?’.
1946		D. Stivens Courtship of Uncle Henry 43: Isn’t he a little beaut?
1958		Murtagh & Harris Cast the First Stone 156: I preferred smaller girls [...] and all my madams used to keep several little beauts around for me to pick from.
1966		P. Boyle At Night All Cats Are Grey 153: ‘She’s a proper beaut!’ I said, not rightly knowing if I meant Cassie or the mare.
1981		S. Berkoff Decadence in Decadence and Other Plays (1985) 8: My god you’re a beaut / a fabulous sight.
1998		J. O’Connor Salesman 304: A photograph of a gorgeous young black woman, sashaying along a tropical beach in a brief red bikini. ‘Isn’t she a beaut, Homer?’.

2. someone or something admirable or desirable, irrespective of physical beauty; also in ironic uses (see cits. 1891, 1941, 1949, 1998).

1891		Eve. Kansan (Newton, KS) 14 Dec. 4/3: Now there was my grandfather. Isn’t he a beaut? He died drunk.
1894		Scranton Tribune (PA) 31 May 4/3: ‘Ain’t she a beaut?’ Drawing his diploma from his bosom, he showed that he spoke truly.
1898		W.J. Kountz ‘Out Hunting’ in Billy Baxter Letters (1899) 1: I [...] bought a hunting-knife with a nickle-plated handle. It was a beaut.
1900		Bulletin (Sydney) 14 Apr. 32/2: I ’ad a bute of a frock-coat – a real bute, an’ me black top-hat shone like a nigger’s heel.
1904		C. Connors Bowery Life [ebook] De bloke we wuz wid handed me er segar dat wuz er beaut.
1913–14		Van Loan ‘Easy Picking’ in Taking the Count 310: I never even saw him start that last one. It was a beaut!
1915		Farmer & Settler (Sydney) 20 Jul. 2/3: I am here, washed, between clean sheets, and with pyjamas on too. The ‘jamas, by the way, are ‘beauts’.
1919		H.C. Witwer Smile A Minute 278: Ain’t that car a beaut?
1921		N.Z. Truth 19 Feb. 5/7: The bosses think Wright is a beaut / For he helps the poor plugs to confute.
1931		P.J. Wolfson Bodies are Dust (2019) [ebook] [of a criminal scheme] Whoever thought of that one [...] it’s a beaut; you get rid of competition and you make a quarter of million.
1932		West. Mail (Perth) 15 Dec. 23/2: In my opinion this station is what we call in soldier language ‘a beaut’.
1934		T. Wood Cobbers 68: The last of the big sticks in this sector, and a real beaut.
1935		(con. 1920s) J.T. Farrell Judgement Day in Studs Lonigan (1936) 742: Say, that’s a beaut of a car.
1938		Press (Canterbury) 2 Apr. 18: ‘To be a dag at,’ ‘to put across a beaut,’ ‘to jerry to,’ ‘ducks’ breakfast,’ ‘to float up to,’ ‘to blow up to,’ ‘to sleep in the Star Hotel’ need no explanation.
1941		H. Drake-Brockman ‘The Price’ in Mann Coast to Coast 51: ‘Mum,’ his reproach met her, ‘you’re a beaut! Where’ve you been?’.
1949		R. Park Poor Man’s Orange 17: ‘You’re a bloody beaut.’ She felt in the pockets of her coat and pulled out the bent stub of a cigarette. ‘And no matches, either.’.
1949		W.R. Burnett Asphalt Jungle in Four Novels (1984) 173: Want all the excuses? I’ve got a bunch of beauts.
1950		(con. 1936–46) K.S. Prichard Winged Seeds (1984) 23: Then a couple of little beauts turned up in the ripples and I got a thirty ouncer.
1955		B. Schulberg On the Waterfront (1964) 262: It’s going to be a beaut — two million bucks.
1959		D. Niland Big Smoke 114: She’s a beaut. Nat Gould at his best. I’ll lend it to you when I’m finished.
1969		Kerouac letter 8 Sept. in Charters II (1999) 475: The house is a beaut, the yard has fenced in grass, shrub, tree and jungled area.
1973		(con. 1930s) F. Huelin ‘Keep Moving’ 36: That’s a beaut [...] Where’d you get it?
1978		(con. WWII) T. Sanchez Hollywoodland (1981) 89: Another mysterious invention [...] This one was a beaut.
1989		C. Hiaasen Skin Tight 132: ‘It’s a beaut,’ said Chemo trenchantly.
1990		R.G. Barratt ‘Me Nude!’ in What Do You Reckon (1997) [ebook] The boat was a beaut [...] and cruised through the swells like a ’38 Bentley.
1998		K. Sampson Awaydays 44: We decided to really shit them up by going up to the M62 and ambushing them, but Elvis and Marty managed to convince us that we’d just look like beauts.
1999		D. Healy Sudden Times 170: The motor was a beaut.
2001		K. Sampson Outlaws (ms.) 7: He’s even got Prada trainies, the beaut.
2004		L. Redhead Peepshow [ebook] Top knockers. Not usually a fan of the fake ones myself but hers are real beauts.
2013		N. Knight ‘Not Even a Mouse’ in ThugLit Nov.-Dec. [ebook] ‘It’s [...] a goddam beaut!’.

3. used to define an extreme example of a (usu.) negative experience, e.g. a hangover or blow.

1896		H. Blossom Checkers 50: Did you ever get a jag on sherry? Well [...] it gives you a ‘beaut.’.
1902		Ade Forty Modern Fables 171: She veered around and gave him a Broadside that was a Beaut.
1906		Sun (NY) 5 Mar. 4/6: [of a state of drunkenness] He has a beaut on, a bird on.
1913		Van Loan ‘The Pitch-Out’ in Lucky Seventh (2004) 291: He’s got a beaut of a lump on the side of his jaw.
1929		S. Ornitz Haunch Paunch and Jowl 257: I’m doin’ time with a hang-over myself ... but it’s a beaut.
1932		(con. 1910s) J.T. Farrell Young Lonigan in Studs Lonigan (1936) 131: They heard the smack. It was a beaut.
1942		W. Winchell On Broadway 3 Jan. [synd. col.] Hizzoner admitted: ‘When I make a mistake it’s a beaut’.
1951		M. Spillane Long Wait (1954) 92: She was usually half in the bag, and this time she had a beaut of a hangover.
1961		M. Braly Felony Tank (1962) 120: [of a hangover] I’ve got a beaut myself.
1963		(con. 1944) L. Glassop Rats in New Guinea 32: He comes out with some bloody beauts [i.e. lies] don’t he?
1968		G. Slatter Pagan Game (1969) 109: He had given him four bloody beauts across the arse for using foul language.
1986		C. Hiaasen Tourist Season (1987) 356: Keyes thought: This is going to be a beaut.
2004		N. ‘Razor’ Smith A Few Kind Words and a Loaded Gun 119: He had the beaut of an eye that was every colour of the rainbow and a broken jaw.
2020		G. Armstrong Young Team 9: The McIntyres think he’s tryin tae muscle in n they tan him a beaut.