On Beauty is a 2005 novel by British author Zadie Smith. It takes its title from an essay by Elaine Scarry (On Beauty and Being Just). The story follows the lives of a mixed-race British/American family living in the United States. On Beauty addresses ethnic and cultural differences in both the U.S.A and the U.K., the nature of beauty, and the clash between liberal and conservative academic values. A short article in the Guardian has described it as a "transatlantic comic saga."

The novel was shortlisted for the 2005 Man Booker Prize on September 8, 2005. Smith won the Orange Prize for Fiction in June 2006.

Zadie Smith (born on 25 October 1975) is a British novelist, essayist and short story writer. As of 2016, she has published five novels, all of which have received substantial critical praise. In 2003, she was included on Granta's list of 20 best young authors. Smith has won the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2006 and her novel White Teeth was included in Time magazines TIME 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005 list. She joined New York University's Creative Writing Program as a tenured professor in 2010.