Mellifluous, loquacious and scintillating

Jan. 28, 2009 10:03 AM PT

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When thinking of good words, apparently, it’s hard to separate them from their meanings. The site alphaDictionary has compiled its selection of the 100 most beautiful words in English (via Nigel Beale) -- in its entirety here or after the jump, with definitions. The list, when recited, is quite beautiful, and the words, for the most part, are familiar rather than obscure: adroit, champagne, dulcet, ebullient, efflorescence, paean, rhapsody.

There is a plethora (on the list) of words whose meanings are halcyon (on the list), even effervescent (on the list). If you try, you can find the negative -- surreptitious and beleaguer are both on the list -- but the victory would be Pyrrhic (on the list); anyone who can’t enjoy the serendipity (on the list) of discovering diaphanous and ingenue together (both on the list) risks being called jejune (on the list).

You might have noticed a preponderance (not on the list) of words that don’t sound particularly English. There does seem to be a definite Francophile (not on the list) bent to the words that made the grade. Is it the pretty, soft sounds? The unusual vowel pairings? The (not on the list) je ne sais quoi?

I’d suggest two more words for the list: copasetic (all good) and callipygean (I’ll let you look it up). What words would you add?

-- Carolyn Kellogg

Photo: Lonely Angel CP via Flickr

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 peddler.
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 naive 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.