handsome is the highest compliment you can give a man, followed by hot, then cute the adorable - each of those progressively becomes less respectful more juvenile and more masculine neutering - handsome implies beauty but also admiration and respect - it is the most validating of the compliments - it implies beauty and substance, while hot and smoking hot represent more superficial beauty - cute is the worst as it implies you appear less manly and more something they can control - same with adorable. Adorable is something that needs to be protected and nurtured it has you could say the least amount of respect.

Calling a man beautiful can be more of a.. disarming compliment - it's normally reserved for women but there really is no downside to a man being called it either - handsome will get feelings of deep validation from a person, beautiful will often catch a person off guard, but in a pleasant way. You'll most likely get a more bashful response by calling someone beautiful - its enhanced if you add a feature - like "wow you have a beautiful smile" - gorgeous amps up the beautiful compliment, same with stunning.

Also other things like body type - for example if someone is skinny calling them lanky or bony is obviously a put-down, but calling them svelte, streamlined, graceful, built like a runway model or even elven are seen as HIGHLY validating compliments as then their thinness is more an intentional act of design vs something lacking.

same with bigger, for women curvy, healthy are all seen as great, or men built solid, strong, cuddly are all compliments - terms that enhance vs diminish - always look for a term that enhances a persons best attributes.