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!

cerebus660 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.