Difference between 好看、美丽 and 漂亮
The differences between 好看, 美丽 and 漂亮 just like that differences between good-looking, beautiful, pretty, it's so hard to distinguish... well, just a joke. The three words can be used for a good-looking person. 好看 may be used for not only a person, but also a book: 书很好看, a movie: 电影很好看, or other artistic works. If it's used for praising someone's looking, the degree is lower than 美丽 and 漂亮. Both 美丽 and 漂亮 are synonymical in almost all cases: 美丽的新娘 and 漂亮的新娘 are almost the same. 美丽 can also be used for landscape: 美丽的风景, some place: 美丽的上海, 美丽的家乡, etc. 漂亮 is generally used for persons only, also used as an adverb rarely, for example: well done means 干得好, you may say 干得漂亮 as well.