103 Most Beautiful Words? You Decide

There’s a list of beautiful words going around the internet–the 100 most beautiful words, or so they claim. I love words. I’ve written

103 Most Beautiful Words? (image created in Wordle)

several posts about words in general and this one about the beauty of words. I’m always interested in adding to my list. Here’s their list:

100 Most beautiful words in the English language* 

1. Ailurophile A cat-lover.
2. Assemblage A gathering.
3. Becoming Attractive.
4. Beleaguer To exhaust with attacks.
5. Brood To think alone.
6. Bucolic In a lovely rural setting.
7. Bungalow A small, cozy cottage.
8. Chatoyant Like a cat’s eye.
9. Comely Attractive.
10. Conflate To blend together.
11. Cynosure A focal point of admiration.
12. Dalliance A brief love affair.
13. Demesne Dominion, territory.
14. Demure Shy and reserved.
15. Denouement The resolution of a mystery.
16. Desuetude Disuse.
17. Desultory Slow, sluggish.
18. Diaphanous Filmy.
19. Dissemble Deceive.
20. Dulcet Sweet, sugary.
21. Ebullience Bubbling enthusiasm.
22. Effervescent Bubbly.
23. Efflorescence Flowering, blooming.
24. Elision Dropping a sound or syllable in a word.
25. Elixir A good potion.
26. Eloquence Beauty and persuasion in speech.
27. Embrocation Rubbing on a lotion.
28. Emollient A softener.
29. Ephemeral Short-lived.
30. Epiphany A sudden revelation.
31. Erstwhile At one time, for a time.
32. Ethereal Gaseous, invisible but detectable.
33. Evanescent Vanishing quickly, lasting a very short time.
34. Evocative Suggestive.
35. Fetching Pretty.
36. Felicity Pleasantness.
37. Forbearance Withholding response to provocation.
38. Fugacious Fleeting.
39. Furtive Shifty, sneaky.
40. Gambol To skip or leap about joyfully.
41. Glamour Beauty.
42. Gossamer The finest piece of thread, a spider’s silk.
43. Halcyon Happy, sunny, care-free.
44. Harbinger Messenger with news of the future.
45. Imbrication Overlapping and forming a regular pattern.
46. Imbroglio An altercation or complicated situation.
47. Imbue To infuse, instill.
48. Incipient Beginning, in an early stage.
49. Ineffable Unutterable, inexpressible.
50. Ingénue A naïve young woman.
51. Inglenook A cozy nook by the hearth.
52. Insouciance Blithe nonchalance.
53. Inure To become jaded.
54. Labyrinthine Twisting and turning.
55. Lagniappe A special kind of gift.
56. Lagoon A small gulf or inlet.
57. Languor Listlessness, inactivity.
58. Lassitude Weariness, listlessness.
59. Leisure Free time.
60. Lilt To move musically or lively.
61. Lissome Slender and graceful.
62. Lithe Slender and flexible.
63. Love Deep affection.
64. Mellifluous Sweet sounding.
65. Moiety One of two equal parts.
66. Mondegreen A slip of the ear.
67. Murmurous Murmuring.
68. Nemesis An unconquerable archenemy.
69. Offing The sea between the horizon and the offshore.
70. Onomatopoeia A word that sounds like its meaning.
71. Opulent Lush, luxuriant.
72. Palimpsest A manuscript written over earlier ones.
73. Panacea A solution for all problems
74. Panoply A complete set.
75. Pastiche An art work combining materials from various sources.
76. Penumbra A half-shadow.
77. Petrichor The smell of earth after rain.
78. Plethora A large quantity.
79. Propinquity Proximity; Nearness
80. Pyrrhic Successful with heavy losses.
81. Quintessential Most essential.
82. Ratatouille A spicy French stew.
83. Ravel To knit or unknit.
84. Redolent Fragrant.
85. Riparian By the bank of a stream.
86. Ripple A very small wave.
87. Scintilla A spark or very small thing.
88. Sempiternal Eternal.
89. Seraglio Rich, luxurious oriental palace or harem.
90. Serendipity Finding something nice while looking for something else.
91. Summery Light, delicate or warm and sunny.
92. Sumptuous Lush, luxurious.
93. Surreptitious Secretive, sneaky.
94. Susquehanna A river in Pennsylvania.
95. Susurrous Whispering, hissing.
96. Talisman A good luck charm.
97. Tintinnabulation Tinkling.
98. Umbrella Protection from sun or rain.
99. Untoward Unseemly, inappropriate.
100. Vestigial In trace amounts.
101. Wafture Waving.
102. Wherewithal The means.
103. Woebegone Sorrowful, downcast.

 Source: So Much To Tell You

What do you think? Vestigial, susurrous, talisman… There are some beauties.

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Jacqui Murray is the editor of a technology curriculum for K-fifth grade and creator of two technology training books for middle school. She is the author of Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy midshipman.  She is webmaster for five blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a columnist for Examiner.com, an Editorial Review Board member for SIGCT, an IMS tech expert, and a weekly/monthly contributor to Write Anything and Technology in Education. Currently, she’s working on a techno-thriller that should be ready this summer. Contact Jacqui at her writing office or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.

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