Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

   3. Suitable or fit in action; marked with propriety and ease;
      graceful; becoming; appropriate; as, a handsome style,
      etc.

            Easiness and handsome address in writing. --Felton.

   4. Evincing a becoming generosity or nobleness of character;
      liberal; generous.

            Handsome is as handsome does.         --Old Proverb.

   5. Ample; moderately large.

            He . . . accumulated a handsome sum of money. --V.
                                                  Knox.

   {To do the handsome thing}, to act liberally. [Colloq.]

   Syn: {Handsome}, {Pretty}.

   Usage: Pretty applies to things comparatively small, which
          please by their delicacy and grace; as, a pretty girl,
          a pretty flower, a pretty cottage. Handsome rises
          higher, and is applied to objects on a larger scale.
          We admire what is handsome, we are pleased with what
          is pretty. The word is connected with hand, and has
          thus acquired the idea of training, cultivation,
          symmetry, and proportion, which enters so largely into
          our conception of handsome. Thus Drayton makes mention
          of handsome players, meaning those, who are well
          trained; and hence we speak of a man's having a
          handsome address, which is the result of culture; of a
          handsome horse or dog, which implies well proportioned
          limbs; of a handsome face, to which, among other
          qualities, the idea of proportion and a graceful
          contour are essential; of a handsome tree, and a
          handsome house or villa. So, from this idea of
          proportion or suitableness, we have, with a different
          application, the expressions, a handsome fortune, a
          handsome offer.