Or do you prefer other adjectives? Do you consider it to be insulting or do you take it for a compliment if it was meant as one? (Assume an amenable relationship between the two people, not a random stranger or creeper)
The most important thing I ever realized, if I want to compliment a woman, you never compliment her on her features, you compliment her on her choices. "Hey you look cute" is automatically going to put her hackles up. "Hey, I really like your dress" is a neutral statement you can make that doesn't make you a danger. Which is what most women view men as after a lifetime of being treated as prey.