The 100 Most Beautiful Words in English

This article is reprinted from www.alphadictionary.com.

Here are the 100 most beautiful words in English. How do we know we have the most beautiful? They were chosen by Dr. Goodword (Robert Beard), who has been making dictionaries, creating word lists, and writing poetry for 40 years. For five years he wrote the Word of the Day at yourDictionary.com and since 2004 he has been writing the series, So, What’s the Good Word? here at alphaDictionary. Below is a select list of his favorite poetical words that he used in his poetry—or wishes he had.

These words were collected over the years with the help of visitors to this website like you, subscribers to our daily “Good Word,” and the word colloquium at the alphaDictionary Alpha Agora. They have been carefully researched and written up in small essays designed to increase the beauty of our conversations. Beyond that, these essays reveal how the words used by English-speakers provide insights into who we are and where we ccme from.

Click any of the first five for a free sample of the book, scheduled to appear in August at Amazon.com.

The 100 Most Beautiful Words in English
Aestivate
Ailurophile
Assemblage
Becoming
Beleaguer
Billet-doux
Brood
Bucolic
Bungalow
Chatoyant
Comely
Conflate
Cynosure
Dalliance
Demesne
Demure
Denouement
Desuetude
Desultory
Diaphanous
Dissemble
Dulcet
Ebullient
Effervescent
Efflorescence
Elision
Elixir
Eloquence
Embrocation
Emollient
Ephemeral
Epiphany
Erstwhile
Esculent
Ethereal
Evanescent
Evocative
Fetching
Felicitous
Fluke
Forbearance
Fugacious
Furtive
Gambol
Glamour
Gossamer
Halcyon
Imbrication
Imbroglio
Imbue
Incipient
Ineffable
Ingenue
Inglenook
Insouciance
Inure
Lagniappe
Lagoon
Languor
Lassitude
Leisure
Lilt
Lissome
Lithe
Luxuriant
Mellifluous
Moiety
Mondegreen
Murmur
Nemesis
Niveous
Odalisque
Offing
Onomatopoeia
Opulent
Palimpsest
Panacea
Panoply
Pastiche
Peccadillo
Penumbra
Petrichor
Plethora
Propinquity
Pyrrhic
Quintessential
Ratatouille
Redolent
Riparian
Ripple
Scintilla
Sempiternal
Seraglio
Serendipity
Surreptitious
Sumptuous
Sussurous
Symbiosis
Talisman
Tintinnabulation
Umbrageous
Umbrella
Untoward
Vestige
Viridescent
Waft
Wherewithal

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