100 Most beautiful English words

[ne1410s]

according to alphaDictionary:

Some wag suggested that the three most beautiful words, in 2009, are "You are hired".

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.

[ulysses5019]

I'm glad that serendipity made the list.

[Spock]

"57 lagoon A small gulf or inlet in the sea."

See also-sewage, manure

[megaaddict]

The beauty of an inspissating cockle is fugacious to say the least.

[Thousandaire]

Blago's imbroglio was caused by his propinquity for lagniappes.

Inglenook is a wine. Even I know that.

[thguy65]

I protest!
How could they forget callipygian???

[PlacentiaSoccerMom]

I think that the word fuck is egregiously missing from this list. What other word can be used as a noun, an adjective, an adverb, a verb and even as an interjection.

[Bob Juch]

I think that the word fuck is egregiously missing from this list. What other word can be used as a noun, an adjective, an adverb, a verb and even as an interjection.

Shit

[Fred G Sanford]

according to alphaDictionary:

95 ripple A small, circular wave emanating from a central point.

I think Ripple is the most beautiful word in the English language! But what dummy wrote that definition?

[The Spanish Inquisition]

Wait a second--is this the Spelling Bee thread....?

I bet you didn't expect us to post here!

[littlebeast13]

Wait a second--is this the Spelling Bee thread....?

I bet you didn't expect us to post here!

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition in chat either.....

lb13

[The Spanish Inquisition]

Wait a second--is this the Spelling Bee thread....?

I bet you didn't expect us to post here!

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition in chat either.....

lb13

The Spanish Inquisition may just load up the dishwasher and mosey on over after a bit, barring any more distractions or disasters.

TSI had to email a thousand teachers and tell them the kids would miss school on Monday, then email 500 of them back to say one kid was staying behind with Grandpa and wouldn't be missing school after all. Now TSI has to get that kid's school clothes ready and not his vacation clothes. Then you may expect TSI to frolic...

[SportsFan68]

The beauty of an inspissating cockle is fugacious to say the least.

Fugacious was a word at the spelling bee 2nite!

We dint draw it.

[SportsFan68]

etiolate was also a word!

We dint draw that either.

[MarleysGh0st]

They forgot "Phone Game".

[ulysses5019]

They forgot "Phone Game".

That's two words.

[MarleysGh0st]

They forgot "Phone Game".

That's two words.

So they can make those 101 and 102.

[gsabc]

They forgot "Phone Game".

That's two words.

So they can make those 101 and 102.

You only need one: callback.

[Carmelo Anthony]

The most beautiful words in the English language are "Carmelo Anthony, MVP".

[ulysses5019]

The most beautiful words in the English language are "Carmelo Anthony, MVP".

Again with the too many words. Besides, they're not true. LeBron sounds much nicer.

[NellyLunatic1980]

The most beautiful words in the English language are "Carmelo Anthony, MVP".

Again with the too many words. Besides, they're not true. LeBron sounds much nicer.

Speaking for Melo, "You can bite me. Twice."