According to linguist Robert Beard.
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.
I have to confess I’m having a strange angry reaction to the inclusion of the word “Susquehanna.” It’s a specific proper noun, so that makes it feel too “exclusive” to me, as if it’s out of my league or realm. Like there’s some secret Susquehanna club that I’m not part of and all the members are sticking it to me. I can USE the word “sumptuous,” but unless I live near the Susquehanna or write a fictional post or story featuring the Susquehanna, I’m not likely to ever use the word Susquehanna. I mean, I’ve used “Susquehanna” more in this mini hissy about it than I ever have in my entire life.
So you can suck it, Susquehanna.
(Although now I want to write a story called “The Secret Susquehanna Club” or “Suck It, Susquehanna.”)
Also “erstwhile”? Really??
And while I love love, I’m not sure it’s one of the most beautiful words in the English language.
Thoughts, pippa? Agreements? Disagreements? Words you would add?
Well, “elixir” is my favorite word of all time, so I am quite happy to see it included.
I’m a big “e” and “l” girl.
I love the word “evensong”. I love the word “evanescent”. And I love beyond measure the word “calculus”. Something about those “l” and “u”s all together. Maybe “susquehanna” is good because of the closeness of “s”s and “u”s – which I think is one of the most beautiful combination of sounds. Don’t get me started, Susquehanna.
But elixir? My #1 favorite word, in terms of its sound, and I use it as much as I can.
Interesting how many of these have a soft sound to them – gliding “l”s and “s”s. Lots of “u” sounds, too. There must be something soothing about it.
“Twilight” is another one of my favorite words. Sadly, it is not on here.
There’s a name for the smell of the earth after it rains? That’s one of my favorite smells!!!
Hooray for “cynosure”–one of my favorites. . . that sadly I’ve never been able to use.
Speaking as a Pennsylvanian, I was always more into “Catasauqua” than “Susquehanna.” But that might be the ailurophile in me.
I like the sound of “Susquehanna” a lot, actually. I agree with you, Sheila, those “s” and “u” sounds are beautiful. Very sensuoussss.
I think the fact that it’s regional is what’s annoying me. But who knows? I’m weird.
So if we’re doing regionalisms, here’s one that strikes my fancy:
Woolloomooloo.
It’s a suburb of Sydney, Australia. (MB’s brother lives in Sydney.) Several years ago, MB went over for a visit and they were driving around and saw this sign for Woolloomooloo. MB said, “What’s Woo-loo-MOO-loo?”
And my BIL corrected him, “It’s Woo-LOO-muh-loo.”
Not Woo-loo-MOO-loo.
Woo-LOO-muh-loo.
I love that. It’s sounds so magical.
He’s short on V words. And I’m shocked by the shortage of Z’s. V’s and Z’s are the most luxuriant sounds in English.
Luxuriant is actually a pretty good word. Vivacious, melancholy, and incandescent are also springing to mind. it would be very hard for me to choose favorite words, though– not only too many choices, but too many categories of types of words– graceful, sensuous, intense, delightfully goofy-sounding, delightfully precise in meaning (petrichor is actually a good example of this last one.)
I think Susquehanna and Ratatouille are both suspect, because while they are English words, they were adopted wholesale from other languages. I’m not sure which native american language Susquehanna hails from, but ratatouille is even pronounced exactly the same in English and French– unlike bureau, or chaise, or other words we’ve taken from the frogs. And opening up the list to proper names makes choosing words even more difficult– who doesn’t have lists and lists of favorite girls’ names, favorite boys’ names, favorite names for pets? What about town names, names of mythological characters, etc., etc.? The choices get pretty unwieldy pretty fast.
As a final note, this fellow seems to be really into cats. I like cats, too– but it’s something I noticed.
Ooh, ooh– luscious! He seems like he’d really like luscious. Wonder why it didn’t make the list?
roo — //And opening up the list to proper names makes choosing words even more difficult– who doesn’t have lists and lists of favorite girls’ names, favorite boys’ names, favorite names for pets? What about town names, names of mythological characters, etc., etc.? The choices get pretty unwieldy pretty fast.//
Yes, see? My thoughts exactly. You nailed it for me, thank you.
That’s why I stand by Woolloomooloo, then.
And I also had the same thoughts about this dude and cats. Some kind of weird attachment there. Does he like the word “hairball,” I wonder?
roo — “Luscious” is one of my favorites, too. It’s weird it’s not on here. I mean, who doesn’t like luscious?
I also like “peaches.” I like the kind of plump sound of that word somehow.
Although the E’s seemed to be pretty well covered, I was surprised not to see effusive, which I’m not … well, almost never.
I love “luscious” too. See? “u”s and “l”s all clustered together.
“Mellifluous”.
I love the word “lovely” too. Not so much “love” as a word, but “loveLY”.
After reading this all I could think of was Buddy the Elf saying “Francisco! That’s fun to say! Francisco… Frannncisco… Franciscooo…”
And I’m with Roo, Susquehanna and Ratatouille are suspect.
I’ve always loved the word “onomatopoeia”…
My favorite is one I picked up from a Navy oceanographer when preparing to go under the Arctic ice shelf for the first time: “polynya” which is an open “lake” in the Arctic ice cap.
It seems to be pronounced different ways by different languages (it’s Russian in origin), but I like most of them. Maybe it’s also the vision of what the word signifies is what makes some words beautiful.
You know, I never really thought about it but I too love the word “untoward”. It’s fun to say.
Rob — Hahahahaha. Effusive is a great word.
sheila — Saying “untoward” always makes me feel smart. I need to say it every day. Somehow.
Lots of people are regularly “untoward,” so it shouldn’t be that hard, right?
It’s that unexpected “w” in the middle of the thing. You say it differently than if it were just “toward” … and I enjoy that. It makes me feel smart too.
Hate to keep harping on the E’s but I suppose I’ll exacerbate that impoliteness. Not sure exacerbate belongs on the list because it kinda sounds dirty, doesn’t it?
“He was exacerbating in the other room.”
Rob — HA! Yes, please, no exacerbating on this blog.
Yet somehow, “acerbic” is a cool word, even if it’s not always a cool thing. Or Elle Driver if that’s your speed: “I love the word ‘gargantuan.’ I so rarely get to use it in conversation.”
If we were going on proper nouns we could be here all day. There’s a street called “Rappleyea” in Sayreville, NJ, for example. I LOVE that name. (Old Dutch name, as it turns out.) But we should have a name subset. If you can turn it into an adjective “with -ic, -ish, or -ary,” as Blossom Dearie reminds us, then it’s cool.
Rappleyary
Susquehannic
Uh… NO.
“Halcyon” is lovely.
I am strangely pleased that “fetching” made the cut. Never really thought of that word before, but I like it a lot.
Not sure how I chanced upon this site (I was looking up “beyond the pale”), but found your words (yours? or a foundling list). As an erstwhile professor, I can see keeping it; it has both a precision and a bit of that wandering feel to it. As for Susquehanna, some words are nicely mellifluous…the latter word, one I like in spite of itself, since that third L always makes my tongue feel thick and slick..
I have to agree with your postion on Susquehanna…Plus, I grew up near the Susquehanna river and have heard that name all of my life so, it sounds common/average to me. I do love the list though……..