No word in the English language gives me more fits to translate and use in Spanish then the word for “beautiful”. Granted, I’m fully aware that we, in teh English language, have our own share of common synonyms for “beautiful” that may be tough for a non-native speaker to figure out – pretty, attractive, good-looking, cute, handsome, etc. Each word, depending on the situation and context may be more appropriate than the other. It might also depend on whether you’re describing a person, place, landscape, object, animal, etc. This is, I’d say, the same case in Spanish and, depending on the country or region, may be a different word altogether. I imagine that in England, Australia, South Africa and other English-speaking countries that words can be used differently for this and in different contexts as well. I recall, for example, “lovely” used quite a bit in the UK but not so much in the US. Any others?
In Spanish there are a ton of words that, apart from country, context and situation, mean, essentially the same thing: “beautiful”. Here’s the list of words that, as a Spanish teacher and past and present resident of a Spanish-speaking country, I find most common:
bello, lindo, bonito, hermoso, precioso, guapo
Having lived for a year in Spain (well, 18 years ago, at least) I got pretty used to the two principal words for “beautiful” there: guapo and precioso. I’m pretty sure I heard there the occasional bonito (there’s the song “Bonito” by Jarabe de Palo that I remember) with also the words chulo and mono used to mean “cute”. Not sure if I recall hearing any other of the above words much if at all.
Here in Argentina, however, I’m not sure if I’ve ever heard anyone use these words that are so common and heavily used in Spain. Here, instead, the big words for beautiful are, without a doubt, lindo and hermoso. While I’m not 100% sure how to use them yet, it seems to me that the they are used somewhat in the following way:
lindo – pretty sure this is the most commonly used one. It is definitely used to mean cute for kids and stuff and seems to be the best catch-all word when you’re unsure.
hermoso – this word, to me, seems to be a little stronger… maybe like the difference between, say, “beautiful” and “gorgeous” or something. In any case, I hear it less than lindo, though I do hear it quite a bit. I even heard yesterday some calling a place relindo… which sounded like maybe it mean “muy lindo” or something. I’d never heard that before (maybe I’m spelling it wrong?)
In any case, if anyone more familiar with using “beautiful” here in Argentina (or anywhere else for that matter) wants to give their 2 cents on this, I’d be very appreciative. I want my blog to help teach others (an ME!) the best, most useful and interesting things about Argentina and Argentine Spanish. I may be a profesor, but it doesn’t mean or know or understand it all. I’m fully aware of my limited knowledge but am always interested in learning more about the Spanish language (not to mention even the ENGLISH langauge) so that I can become the best profesor that I can be.
Prof Rabner
Mr. Rabner's adventure in Argentina 
Thanks for the comment, Rachel. Yes, great disccussion on Word reference (Yes, LOVE that sit, too) about it.. it was REinteressante! 🙂 I’ve since heard relindo used more as well as re for other things. I guess once you notice it you just become salient to all of its uses!
You heard correctly! People tend to write it as its own separate word, even though I suppose it’s technically a acepción of the prefix. “Re” to mean “muy” is very common in the Rio de la Plata (and in Chile too, I believe). Here’s an interesting discussion about it on Wordreference: http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=204104
As for lindo v. hermosa, I think you’re spot-on. I would add though that people use “lindo” here as “lovely” — almost in the British sense. Like if I told you my coworkers brought me a cake for my birthday, you might respond “qué lindo.”