Friday, January 9, 2009

The Most Beautiful Words in the English Language Part 1



I stumbled across this lovely list on Listology. This is just Part 1 A-C

adroit Dexterous, agile.
adumbrate To very gently suggest.
aestivate To summer, to spend the summer.
ailurophile A cat-lover.
amaryllis Bulbous plants which have large red or pink flowers.
anemone Any of various plants of the buttercup family, having petal-like sepals.
aqua A light greenish-blue color.
asphodel Plants having white, pink, or yellow flowers in elongated clusters.
banana Herbs having a crown of large, entire leaves and a hanging cluster of fruits.
beatific Befitting an angel or saint.
beleaguer To exhaust with attacks.
blandiloquent Beautiful and flattering.
bliss
blossom
blue
bobolink
bubble
bumblebee
butterfly

caliginous Dark and misty.
camellia
cerulean
chalice
champagne
An effervescent wine.
chatoyant Like a cat's eye.
chattanooga
cherish

chiaroscuro The arrangement of dark and light elements in a picture.
chimes
choas
The exponential divergence of two arbitrarily close points in phase space.
cockle A heart-shaped bivalve or a garden flower.
coconut
colporteur A book peddler.
conflate To blend together, to combine different things.
cosmopolitan
cozy
cuspidor

cute
cynosure A focal point of admiration.

Comments:
amaryllis- while I do love this word, it's description may hold one of the uglier words in the English Language: bulbous. Yuck-o.
ailurophile- It means cat lover, and I am sure it rolls of the tongue like smooth butter...but the suffix "phile" makes me shiver just a little.
bobolink- Love it!
chatoyant- This is "like a cat's eye", unless you are describing a jewel I wonder when you would use this word. Makes me laugh.
cockle- Not so sure it's beautiful, but fun? Um..yes.
colporteur- I would like to think I am one of these, book peddler's, what a great trade.
cozy- One of my absolutely favorite words, and proof that good things come in small packages

Image Courtesy of Oh Joy! Blogs

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ha! There is an actual word for me.
Ailurophile. Wait, maybe I suffer from ailurophilism. Well, hairballs and all I wouldn't want it any other way.

Shout out to my home-kitties! Love you Bleu and Sky!

Yeah, I just did that.

Unknown said...

ahhhhh! I love this!! I am sending it to all of my Editor colleagues!

My favorite is bumblebee.
It just is.