Friday, December 24, 2010

My Favorite 'Mellifulous' Is There But Not Ennui


The 100 Most Beautiful Words in English

Ailurophile- A cat-lover.
Assemblage- A gathering.
Becoming- Attractive.
Beleaguer- To exhaust with attacks.
Brood- To think alone.
Bucolic- In a lovely rural setting.
Bungalow- A small, cozy cottage.
Chatoyant- Like a cat's eye.
Comely- Attractive.
Conflate- To blend together.
Cynosure- A focal point of admiration.
Dalliance- A brief love affair.
Demesne- Dominion, territory.
Demure- Shy and reserved.
Denouement- The resolution of a mystery.
Desuetude- Disuse.
Desultory- Slow, sluggish.
Diaphanous- Filmy.
Dissemble- Deceive.
Dulcet- Sweet, sugary.
Ebullience- Bubbling enthusiasm.
Effervescent- Bubbly.
Efflorescence- Flowering, blooming.
Elision- Dropping a sound or syllable in a word.
Elixir- A good potion.
Eloquence- Beauty and persuasion in speech.
Embrocation- Rubbing on a lotion.
Emollient- A softener.
Ephemeral- Short-lived.
Epiphany- A sudden revelation.
Erstwhile- At one time, for a time.
Ethereal- Gaseous, invisible but detectable.
Evanescent- Vanishing quickly, lasting a very short time.
Evocative- Suggestive.
Fetching- Pretty.
Felicity- Pleasantness.
Forbearance- Withholding response to provocation.
Fugacious- Fleeting.
Furtive- Shifty, sneaky.
Gambol- To skip or leap about joyfully.
Glamour- Beauty.
Gossamer- The finest piece of thread, a spider's silk
Halcyon- Happy, sunny, care-free.
Harbinger- Messenger with news of the future.
Imbrication- Overlapping and forming a regular pattern.
Imbroglio- An altercation or complicated situation.
Imbue- To infuse, instill.
Incipient- Beginning, in an early stage.
Ineffable- Unutterable, inexpressible.
Ingénue- A naïve young woman.
Inglenook- A cozy nook by the hearth.
Insouciance- Blithe nonchalance.
Inure- To become jaded.
Labyrinthine- Twisting and turning.
Lagniappe- A special kind of gift.
Lagoon- A small gulf or inlet.
Languor- Listlessness, inactivity.
Lassitude- Weariness, listlessness.
Leisure- Free time.
Lilt- To move musically or lively.
Lissome- Slender and graceful.
Lithe- Slender and flexible.
Love- Deep affection.
Mellifluous- Sweet sounding.
Moiety- One of two equal parts.
Mondegreen- A slip of the ear.
Murmurous- Murmuring.
Nemesis- An unconquerable archenemy.
Offing- The sea between the horizon and the offshore.
Onomatopoeia- A word that sounds like its meaning.
Opulent- Lush, luxuriant.
Palimpsest- A manuscript written over earlier ones.
Panacea- A solution for all problems
Panoply- A complete set.
Pastiche- An art work combining materials from various sources.
Penumbra- A half-shadow.
Petrichor- The smell of earth after rain.
Plethora- A large quantity.
Propinquity- An inclination.
Pyrrhic- Successful with heavy losses.
Quintessential- Most essential.
Ratatouille- A spicy French stew.
Ravel- To knit or unknit.
Redolent- Fragrant.
Riparian- By the bank of a stream.
Ripple- A very small wave.
Scintilla- A spark or very small thing.
Sempiternal- Eternal.
Seraglio- Rich, luxurious oriental palace or harem.
Serendipity- Finding something nice while looking for something else.
Summery- Light, delicate or warm and sunny.
Sumptuous- Lush, luxurious.
Surreptitious- Secretive, sneaky.
Susquehanna- A river in Pennsylvania.
Susurrous- Whispering, hissing.
Talisman- A good luck charm.
Tintinnabulation- Tinkling.
Umbrella- Protection from sun or rain.
Untoward- Unseemly, inappropriate.
Vestigial- In trace amounts.
Wafture- Waving.
Wherewithal- The means.
Woebegone- Sorrowful, downcast.

3 comments:

Nick Ward said...

A veritable cornucopia of lexicographical delights!

Simon B said...

No "F for Firefly" or "S for Serenity"?

M. D. Jackson said...

My lexicon tends to be more voluminous than most people's, but this list did provide me with a few new entries which has caused me no small amount of dyspepsia.

Nevertheless the list has a few notable absences, particularly two of my favourite sounding words: clitoris and fellatio. Apart from their actual meanings (both of which I heartily approve) the words themselves always sound pleasant to my ears.