alphaDictionary * The 100 Most Beautiful Words in English

The 100 Most Beautiful Words in English

Here are the 100 most beautiful words in English. How do we know? Dr. Goodword (Dr. Robert Beard, known as Dr. Language at yourDictionary.com for five years) has been defining words for 30 years. Since the year 2000, he has been writing a daily word sent our as the Word of the Day at yourDictionary and as the Good Word at alphaDictionary.

Over the years he has collected these words, with the help of the word colloquium at the alphaDictionary Alpha Agora. Now, here the most beautiful words in sounds and meaning are for you to enjoy. Stay tuned: in a month or two you will be able to download the entire list as defined and discussed by Dr. Goodword in the form or an e-book or PDF file that you can print in black and white or color. Click the linked words for examples of the fully defined words.

1	adroit	Dexterous, agile.
2	adumbrate	To very gently suggest.
3	aestivate	To summer, to spend the summer.
4	ailurophile	A cat-lover.
5	beatific	Befitting an angel or saint.
6	beleaguer	To exhaust with attacks.
7	blandiloquent	Beautiful and flattering.
8	caliginous	Dark and misty.
9	champagne	An effervescent wine.
10	chatoyant	Like a cat's eye.
11	chiaroscuro	The arrangement of dark and light elements in a picture.
12	cockle	A heart-shaped bivalve or a garden flower.
13	colporteur	A book peddlar.
14	conflate	To blend together, to combine different things.
15	cynosure	A focal point of admiration.
16	desuetude	Disuse.
17	diaphanous	Filmy.
18	diffuse	Spread out, not focused or concentrated.
19	dulcet	Sweet, sugary.
20	ebullient	Bubbling with enthusiasm.
21	effervescent	Bubbly.
22	efflorescence	Flowering, the opening of buds or a bloom.
23	elixir	A good potion.
24	emollient	A softener.
25	encomium	A spoken or written work in praise of someone.
26	ephemeral	Short-lived.
27	epicure	A person who enjoys fine living, especially food and drink.
28	epiphany	A sudden revelation.
29	erstwhile	At one time, for a time.
30	eschew	To reject or avoid.
31	esculent	Edible.
32	esoteric	Understood only by a small group of specialists.
33	ethereal	Gaseous, invisible but detectable.
34	etiolate	White from no contact with light.
35	evanescent	Vanishing quickly, lasting a very short time.
36	exuberant	Enthusiastic, excited.
37	felicitous	Pleasing.
38	fescue	A variety of grass favored for pastures.
39	foudroyant	Dazzling.
40	fragile	Very, very delicate.
41	fugacioius	Running, escaping.
42	gambol	To skip or leap about joyfully.
43	glamour	Beauty.
44	gossamer	The finest piece of thread, a spider's silk.
45	halcyon	Happy, sunny, care-free.
46	hymeneal	Having to do with a wedding.
47	imbricate	To overlap to form a regular pattern.
48	imbroglio	An altercation or complicated situation.
49	imbue	To infuse, instill.
50	incipient	Beginning, in an early stage.
51	ingenue	A naïve young woman.
52	inglenook	The place beside the fireplace.
53	inspissate	To thicken.
54	inure	To jade.
55	jejune	Dull; childish.
56	lagniappe	A gift given to a customer for their patronage.
57	lagoon	A small gulf or inlet in the sea.
58	languor	Listlessness, inactivity.
59	lassitude	Weariness, listlessness.
60	laughter	The response to something funny.
61	lilt	To move musically or lively, to have a lively sound.
62	lithe	Slender and flexible.
63	loquacious	Talkative.
64	luxuriant	Thick, lavish.
65	mellifluous	Sweet-sounding.
66	missive	A message or letter.
67	moiety	One of two equal parts, a half.
68	mondegreen	A misanalyzed phrase.
69	nebulous	Foggy.
70	niveous	Snowy, snow-like.
71	obsequious	Fawning, subservience.
72	odalisque	A concubine in a harem.
73	oeuvre	A work.
74	offing	That part of the sea between the horizon and the offshore.
75	onomatopoeia	The creation of words by imitating sound.
76	paean	A formal expression of praise.
77	palimpsest	A manuscript written over one or more earlier ones.
78	panacea	A complete solution for all problems.
79	panoply	A complete set.
80	pastiche	A mixture of art work (art or music) from various sources.
81	peccadillo	A peculiarity.
82	pelagic	Related to the sea or ocean.
83	penumbra	A half-shadow, the edge of a shadow.
84	peregrination	Wandering, travels.
85	petrichor	The smell of earth after a rain.
86	plethora	A great excess, overabundance.
87	porcelain	A fine white clay pottery.
88	potamophilous	Loving rivers.
89	propinquity	An inclination or preference.
90	Pyrrhic	Victorious despite heavy losses.
91	quintessential	The ultimate, the essence of the essence.
92	redolent	Sweet-smelling.
93	rhapsody	A beautiful musical piece.
94	riparian	Having to do with the bank of a river or other body of water.
95	ripple	A small, circular wave emanating from a central point.
96	scintillate	To sparkle with brilliant light.
97	sempiternal	Forever and ever.
98	seraglio	Housing for a harem.
99	serendipity	Finding something while looking for something else.
100	surreptitious	Sneaky.
BONUS WORDS
101	sussurous	Producing a hushing sound, like flowing water.
102	symbiosis	Interdependence of two different species.
103	syzygy	The direct opposition of two heavenly bodies.
104	talisman	A symbolic object believed to have magical powers.
105	terpsichorean	Related to dance.
106	tintinnabulation	Ringing.
107	umbrageous	Shady.
108	vestige	A small fragment.
109	whisper	Speaking without vibrating the vocal folds.
110	zyzzyva	A kind of beetle.
For the 100 Funniest Words in English, click here

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