My personal favorite is probably “shenanigans”.
It sounds playful, which reflects it’s meaning.

As beautiful as it is, it carries too many negative connotations and therefore bias to my ears.

This was a scene from Donnie Darko! ;P

My favorite is “Gangster lean”. Or “money”.

Think of it as changed into a name: Cellodora. Certainly unusual, but beautiful to my ears, especially when I close my eyes and feel the letters as I say the name.

‘Dilapidated’ means ‘reduced to or fallen into partial ruin or decay, as from age, wear, or neglect.’ Most people think its a negative word, but I think its definition gives it a sort of antique feel. Plus its really fun to say.

“Natural Twenty”
Its got a nice flow, with a bit of a bounce to it, and calls up emotions of righteous awesomeness. when it is said, whatevers across from it is about to have its day ruined in a most spectacular fashion.

I think it’s one of those things where if I didn’t speak English and I just heard someone say it, I would think it was beautiful, but like Nic S said, I’m kind of biased by knowing the meaning. It does kind of sound pretty, though.

ooh and yes Celladora is a pretty name, reminds me of Cinderella

I like: serendipity, euphoric, epiphany, resurrection,amalgamation, allegory to name a few…

Wouldn’t “celery root” (particularly if one pronounced each vowel, not running the l and r together) be more euphonious? At no point do two consonants occur together, and you get an extra vowel out of the deal!

I like the sound of “lithe.” It seems to flow very well, and the word itself reminds me of a graceful dancer.

Languorous, lyrical and predatory are all words that sound great to me. I’ve noticed that many of the words listed as pleasing to the ear are very soft sounding and involve at least one l, m, or n or another ‘forward’ sound. all of these sounds are made with the tip of the tongue against the teeth. Interesting yes? I wonder if this hearkens back to a lullaby from childhood and if it’s the brain recognizing sounds that made us feel safe or if we’re hardwired to react favorably to these sounds for some reason.

Kate, I agree. Cellodora sounds great.
As for other comments (apart from shenanigans), they either talk about meanings or concepts…. Which has nothing to do with Phonaesthetics …

I like serendipity

There are many, but two of my favorites are “ASKEW” and “BANDWAGON”. As a non-native speaker, they sound great to my ears!

Yeah I’m one of those people who sees colors with words and sounds (a synesthete) and though cellar door is pleasing… I dunno if I’d call it the most pleasing… I the words livid, vivid, and lucid because of both the way they sound and the colors of the letters in my mind… those three words are kind of like fiery velvet… lucid being the most fire colored and vivid being the most velvet purple… but I also like the words educe and elicit even though the colors aren’t so pleasing in my mind… just because they have a pleaing shape in my mind… since in adition to seeing colors for sound or letters I also usually have a shape that accompanies a sound or word! I suppose I’m just babbling a bit but I also prefer certain names strongly over others… for men single syllable names seem to fit so much better… however some single syllable men’s names are detestable! The name Ron for some reason almost has a smell of raw meat in my mind and is an ugly combination of greys and orange yellows… Bob I think evokes something in most people’s minds actually… kind of round and not so attractive… but then the name Lor for example reminds me of ancient ruins and great historical deads… the truth is just about everyone has mild synesthesia… if you don’t believe me look up Bouba Kiki Effect on google! Try to see if some words or names give you any ideas or feelings! =)

Personally i feel elysian is one of the most beautiful words in the english dictonary.

dictionary*

I don’t know about the most beautiful word, but the funniest’s got to be: plimsolls… I can always laugh my head of by simply saying it out loud.

Thinkin’ bout the most beautiful one… diahorrea sounds good..

My by-far favorite word is ‘Liverpudlian’ for its sound and meaning; a sentimental tribute to those 4 Liverpudlian lads that changed the world.

I’ve always been partial to “Lollypop.” Another roll on your tongue word is “Serendipity.”

Is there a list of other “beautiful phrases” anywhere?

I think “serene” is a beautiful word both in terms of sound and meaning.

I thought pseudo-linguistics and pulp literary theory were to be deposited in those fixtures for kitsch crap where we flush away the wiener wits and symbolic, hotdog hammers…

“melancholy” or “cotelydon”.

When Niel Young caught someone knockin’ at his cellar door, they wanted some more heroin….not pleasant

I own all.

My personal favourite is pandemonium; I’m also a big fan of shenanigans

“Cellar door” is kind of pretty. Not my first choice, but pretty. I think that “Sherlock” is one of my favorite words to say, though.

I take it that Tolkien was referring to RP or Queen’s English pronunciation, where for instance the “-er” would not be the rhotic /r/ of American English.

I like “serendipitous,” as well as “voluptuous.” (Regarding the latter, someone once commented “I think I know why, Cam!” :-p)

Apocalyptic.
Morbid, but beautiful in its sound.

Sanguine, saturnine, and chiaroscuro are some of my favorites.

Also, if you put your lips right up to someone’s ear and whisper “cellar doors” in long, drawn-out fashion, it reallllly tickles.

~Saf

i thougth “cerllar door” were the most beautiful words as they made your wonder what is behind it like an imaginary word or something!!!

My favorite words would be consumed, beautiful, love, oh lord so many

in my own opinion paraphanelia is the most beautiful word. say it slow. its amazing.

Back in the 50’s there was a contestant on one of the quiz shows…I think it was the $64,000 Question…whose name was Cellardoor. She said her parents named her that because it was a beautiful phrase. Anybody else remember her?

I don’t find ‘cellar door’ to be very pleasing. Maybe I’m not understanding, but it just sounds like ‘cellar door’, and that’s not interesting or “beautiful” in the slightest.

deliquesce

Conflagration. I love this word. Conflagration.

I like the word Prestidigitation

I think it’s interesting that people think JRR Tolkien first came up with the “beauty” of the compound “cellar door.” In The Raven, Edgar Allan Poe illustrated his love for the sounds “cellar door” makes by ending lines with “nevermore,” “chamber door,” “forgotten lore,” and “Plutonian shore.” While not exact rhymes, these all have similar sounds as “cellar door.”

In fact, before it was said that Tolkien was first to make this claim (around 1955, I believe), a 1949 article published that Poe thought this compound was the most beautiful word in the English language. Throughout school, I’d always been taught that this was the case.

yo whats up to all my homies on the eastside

Don’t really have a favorite, but I like the sound of the word, ambrosia – not only delicious to the taste and smell, but to the ear as well; and autumnal – the gateway to life’s end.

Taking the meaning from cellar door, I think it does have a beautiful sound… I’m trying to say it as if speaking another language, and it does sound beautiful.

Some of my favorite words are silhouette, epiphany, serendipity, melody, song, and water

I love the word absolutely love the way “purple” sounds.
However its not that it sounds beautiful to me, just fun as “confuzzled”, “gourmendized”, “perpendicular” and “flabbergasted”. To me, “cellar door” doesn’t really sound like anything special. I do not think there is a “most beautiful word” it just depends on everyone’s perspective and what kind of sounds appeal to them. To be I love saying long words like surreptitiously or words that pop like purple.

I’ve heard that the Jews believed that the name of their God, Yaweh, had deeper meaning because all the syllables were the sound of breath. I love names that register as being soft and gentle; flowing and breathtaking.

Cephalopoda

Also, “Twelve”.

I think “lithium” is a beautiful word, as well as “aquamarine”, just to name a few.

“Cellar door” sounds hideous to me. “Celery root,” as someone suggested, sounds 50 times better to me than cellar door.. But as for a single word, I think one of the ones I have always thought was prettiest is luminescent.. combined with another word, I love it as “luminescent hues”

as a matter of fact I do find it sounding very lovely, and almost dainty, as crazy as that sounds! I’ll admit when i first saw that was the most beautiful word i was extremely surprised or even let down, but the aesthetics are nice

I like ‘potassium’. It gives the feeling of energy and also has a nice ring to it, which also reflects its meaning as it is commonly used in bottled water!

NAVIGATOR….my favorite word. My second is noodles.

It is no contest… assuage is the most beautiful word in English. The meaning the sound, the clarity, simply the best. Oh, and no word slouch himself, Lincoln loved it as well.

[...] DOOR” , You Phoney when “Some Experts” would be more appropriate. — Beautiful words confusing CACA [...]

i do not know if i am spelling correctly but my favorite word is euphrates i think that it is because miy wife’s grand mother used to be eufracia. so when i pronunce the name of the river euphrates it make me feel so peaceful i think of a sun coming out in the morning from between the water.it’s a wonderful expirience that my chest grow biger when thinking of it , and i think of it all the time like if i ever have been in that place by that mighty river.

When I say cellardoor out loud and without meaning, I LOVE it.

My fave word? flourish

I really enjoyed everyone else’s words as well. Shenanigan, voluptuous, lollypop…. put a smile on my face. thanks!

If I changed cellar door to the name Salvador and say it, I am much more able to “hear” the beauty of it!

…Whoohoo ..Whoosaah. .

How about French words that are now part of English? I love ennui, ingenue, cachet, and recherche. I also love garage and blaise and jejune. Also, less common Victorian words like (dis)approbation or odious or apothecary

I personally love the way ‘mellifluous’ sounds….it makes me think of sweet and peaceful music floating through the air.

My favorite word is TENDERLY.

I have a huge list of words that sound beautiful (beautiful being one of them) but here are just a few:

carnal
velvet
collide
savage
sugar
whisper
fire

And is it just me, or do words sometimes sound better when whispered?

natural twenty – nice, Mark! Did you make that up?
But wtf? cellar door? I’m thinking tornadoes and Friday the 13th! But selador as a name, yeah, good call

Aurora is absolutely gorgeous to me. I also like crack, charcoal, chips, fresh, and whisper.

Also, though unfortunately they have such bad meanings, the words sh-t and diharrea are actually quite pleasing to the ear as well, I think. If only their meanings weren’t so revolting.

Amethyst

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FLAWLESS

Mellifluous. Love it.
Along the same vein, have always disliked cacophony.

Taking a line from Pink Floyd, “Flames are all “LONG GONE” but the pain “LINGERS ON”.

I think they have the two most musical pair of words in that line.

As for word in itself, I like Melancholy.

Yes, Cellodora is nice.

“Pulchritudinous” is my favorite word- I learned it in grade 6, and ever since it has been a personal favorite.

lol @ plimsolls.

Justin – I agree, that is where they belong – omg funny!!

Daniel – thanks, very helpful, nice post

Fred – nice distinction

Paulo – very nice

My list is rather long, but the English language is indeed beautiful.

The most beautiful words in the English language are:

brook, notion, dismayed, thence, thus, brusque, disheartened, presuppose, ought, profound, contrary, antithetical, colloquy, causality, precipitous, hitherto, mournfully, forlornly, stygian, assiduous, indeed, extemporaneous, conceived, presentiment.

That’s all I can think of presently.

I think that to most people the most beautiful word in the English language is their own name. I don’t,(I like my name and all, I just like some other words better!) but I *think* a lot of people out there probably do.

Cellar door isn’t really mellifluous for me – I don’t like having the r and the d together. Nor do I care for celery root – that “ree root” is difficult for my mouth to get around. Simply celery is prettier to me (and I hate the stuff).

If you take out the “r”, and make it celadora, or selladora, then I can get behind it – although I guess those aren’t real words now, are they.

Out of the similar sounding “real” words, I’d go with silhouette as mentioned by Natalie above. It just rolls out of the mouth so easily.

wait, no! It’s algolagnia.

It’s fun to say.

Rapacious and Sybarite

and kudos to you Jon on Deliquesce. I’ve loved that one, too.

Ragamuffin.

Such a fun word, not to mention an amazing definition: a dirty street child. I once called a child from church a “ragamuffin” and she thought I called her a “rat-muffin”. It was really funny.

Algolagnia is also an amazing word. Although… it doesn’t have the nicest definition.

Delicious — say it, and you can almost taste it!

I like the word conciliatory. Also, I would name my daughter Cellodora, except I would have to come up with a better answer than, “Mmommy and daddy named you after the cellar door sweetheart.”

Boulevard

Gentle sounds in BOULE contrast beautifully with the harder consonants of VARD

Serendipity is appealing too

DIPITY makes me smile for some reason

Honestly, cellar door did sound nice, even though I find velvet quite nice. This is an intriguating question, I’ve never heard of it before.

Oh and Voloptous is funny

I like glorious, soul, glamorous, unbelievable!

I love “overgrown” and “windblown.” Sadly, whenever I include these words in my sentences, the sentences take on an overwrought or melodramatic quality.
“Ovaltine” is also very nice.

“ethereal”

Eutherian

I honestly like the word meticulous the best.( It sounds beautiful.)

I kinda like “sibilance.” That or “mumbledypeg.”

Eutherian-belonging or pertaining to the group Eutheria, comprising the placental mammals.

Wow, i read all the comments. I agree with most of you.
I know how you feel, Daniel! It’s the same thing with letters and numbers, for me. And Kate, yes, I love that name! Celladora is a very pretty name. It reminds me of an open field, rushing stream of spring water, the sun peeking out from behind the mountains….you get my point, kind of like how louis paiz described. I think some beautiful color names are turquoise, aquamarine, violet, sienna, burgundy…..well, the list is endless.
I agree with Katherine; “mellifluous” does sound rather musical.
I don’t know why, but don’t you just love the way melodious sounds? It sounds just so musical, harmonious, unique…..oh yeah, I also like the word unique.
Glamorous does sound rather glamorous….get it? Okay, that may not be funny.
My all-time favorite word is food. This word is extremely essential, positively vital to life! Food has a very delectable sound to it, don’t you think? Especially, when you think of ice cream cake, peanut butter cookies, vegetable and cheese pizza…….you know, all of a sudden, I’m hungry!

MY favorite Words are definetely flourish, and Aurora.. those two words sound so beautiful

Kerfluffle and callipygian get my vote.

The most pleasing words to me are elusive, humble and tranquil

Celery root, lol. Cellar door does sound……a bit pleasing to my ears. Not entirely, and I wouldn’t call it one of my favorite words, but likable and agreeable.
I like that name, Trixie….except I thought I had made up that name, back in fourth or third grade, when I wrote a story. It does have a appealing sound to it, don’t you think?

Autumn

personally I am partial to the phrase “pensive citadels” from Wordsworth’s poem; I love the connotation and I think it’s fun to say.

Milk. I love the word milk and I can’t really explain why. It feels pure and sweet. I appreciate the way it sounds as well as what it represents: the pure essence of nourishment to young life.

I also find mausoleum, symposium, crisp, cloud, cloudberry, and gilded pleasing to hear.

I’ll choose for rhythmical words which is rhyming compound with invented second element. It is based on the meaning of the word. It sounds “soo-per-doo-per”. Spelled as “Super duper”.

“Super duper” represents something had achieved high level of excellency accepted by one’s mind feeling and filling with exciting and rewarding. It’s a type of soothing word to eardrum(s).

Allegory, amalgamation, loquacious are some of my favourites

I think “evanescence” is a beautiful word. I love its meaning as well; I like the way that the sound just matches the meaning.

My favorites are “Beautiful” and “Graceful”. They definetly reflect their meaning.

shilly-shally

HIHIHI

Loquacious, allegory, amalgamation are among my favourites

lol…..

Me like de word cinnamon cause it sound goooooood

Aurora is also a charming name.

The best word is mellifluous and confectionary.

Nice, autumn……you know, that can be a name.
How about summer?

*words

Raspberry sounds sweet! I like the way it sounds!

I like the sound of the word taradiddle—no fibbing!

I like wolverine personally, it purrs. and rutabaga brings to mind red and summer, but that may be bias of the memories.

oooh memory is an excellent one as well^^

And majestic…..i like the word royal for some reason….it reminds me of the color purple…..well, yeah, purple does sound unique.

“Cuidado”, is the Spanish word for caution but when you really just say it without thinking about the meaning, it just sounds so…. i dunno but it sounds good…. l.o.l caution sounds good

I agree with daisy

One of my favourite words is ‘bubble’ – I like the onomatopoeic effect. Also, ‘cuckoo’ is pleasing to the ear.

On a side note, I find it quite disturbing that so many people do not know how to spell their favourite word.

I also think the word, “Geometry”, and the word, “jinxed’, sound nice

I’ve never been a fan of the English “dark L” (or “velar L”) I think it’s ugly-sounding.
I hate the word “milk” for this reason.

And the English R is kinda off-putting as well.
Cellar Door is WAY LOW on my list of favorite words.
And Donnie Darko was a stupid movie, but that’s besides the point.

I agree with “shenanigans.”
But some of my favorite words are one-syllable.
Without regard for semantics:
beef
chit chat
pogo stick

Don’t even get me started on, “Glossary”….

Whoever came up with ‘cellar door’ as the most beauitful phrase is whack. Like really, cellar? It’s harsh sounding and has a lot of bad things associated with it. Like think about when u were a little kid, weren’t u always afraid of going down there cuz it was dark and damp and there could be monsters? Well that’s what i think of when i hear it and it’s just not appealing. So, idk what the most beautiful phrase is, but it is definitely not cellar. Unless perhaps it was pronouced like cellah dooah, like with a Boston accent:)

My favorite word is LOVE.love is a great thing everyone can love.Love is a precious thing given to us by ours truly god.

My favorite would have to be “effervescent.”

acquiesce. because of the way it’s spelled

I really like serendipity and cerebellum. The letters in those words make me happy for some reason. Also, Celladora is a very pretty name, Kate, and I think Bella is too.

I really like serendipity and cerebellum. The way those words sound make me happy for some reason. Also, Celladora is a very pretty name, Kate, and I think Bella is too.

NO is two letter, most beutiful word,most difficult to say and always rewarding.

SHAM CHAWLA
(INDIA)

fine but toung twisting for my son stefhyn the 2nd

I would like to vote “moist” as the most gross sounding word in the english language.

Ya, im a synesthete, but i see sounds, so its different for me. my favorite to hear/see is plum pudding. its just so colorful!

i agree with effervescent, bubble, and aquiesce for sure. my favorite word though whould have to be “larimar”- which is a blue-ish gemstone. it’s gorgeous and i love the way that word sounds.

also (this is kinda a non-sequitor) i think “grody” is the funniest word

oh and i forgot to add- “Arianna” and “Lilliputian” too!

I think “taradiddle” is a fun word, but it doesn’t roll off the tongue, however it is fun to say. “Cellar door” is one of those words it’s probably best not to know what it means.

I think the prettiest word in the English language is “cerulean”.

One might therefor suppose that the instrument, cello, was so-named as the sound that was itself euphonious.

And the personal name, Stella Dora, was probably also so-named for euphony.

Ray.

antidisestablishmentarianism is a word hat is fun to say, but you have to know how to say it to get the right effect. It may not be beutiful, but it’s entertaining.

Does anyone remember the Monty Python sketch where a man and his wife have a conversation on beautiful words? Those that sound nice are described as woody: gorn, sausage, antelope, seemly, prodding, vacuum, bound, vole…

“CARIBOU!”
“Splendid word.”
“No, dear, nibbling the hoops.”
(Bang)
“Caribou gorn.”

“INtercourse.”
“Later, dear.”
“No, No, no, the word, ‘intercourse’ — good and woody… inter… course… pert… pert thighs… botty, botty, botty… (wife leaves the room)… erogenous… zone… concubine… erogenous ZOOONE! Loose woman… erogenous zone… (wife returns and throws a bucket of water over him) Oh thank you, dear… you know, it’s a funny thing, dear… all the naughty words sound woody.”

And meanwhile the daughter has fits if someone mentions a nasty tinny word, like ‘newspaper’ or ‘litterbin’.

Enigma, Alkali, and Azure.
They all sound lovely, and I like the meanings too. Plus, the combination of the letters e, i, and a appeals to me.

Faucet and bureau.

“Syphilis” and “Chlamydia” – beautiful words for ugly diseases.
And yes, “deliquescence” is nice, too.

mellifluous, luminescent, bioluminescent, biogenesis, lush, lust, trust, crush, crunch, bitter, mumble, tremble, melodious
“Pensive citadels” has a very nice ring to it.

“Crypt,” Slice,” and “Demonic.” Also, “Anakara,” which is the capital of Turkey. These words roll off the tongue like they were meant to be spoken. When I speak them, I feel . . . good.

flibbertigibbet

and

kerfuffle

say them over and over – ear-giggling tounge-ticklers

Illustrious!

Well.. I like WALRUS..! Cos you start with your mouth open wide and then close it slightly.. It’s nice to say “walllrusss”!

I love the word appreciate. We would play sparkle in elementery school and if you spell it slowly it just sounds beautiful

I think that the most beautiful word would have to be “beautiful.” I know it sounds cheesy but I think it is nice to hear in the sense that someone is calling you beautiful and that it is just nice to hear

I realky like “illuminescence”

@ Sarah: It was chosen purely for its phonaesthetics, not its associations.

I am mildly synaesthesiac and find that I enjoy velvety sounds, smooth, silky sounds, crunchy sounds, and hard sounds. There are also words that are pleasant because of their bumpy, or hill-like, nature.

Velvety:
Velvet
Purple
Dove
Venezuela(not English, but~)
Flourish

Smooth/Silky:
Milk(say it slowly, letting the ‘il’ roll off your tongue: miiiiillk~)
Glossary(especially if you pronounce it like ‘gloss-air-y’)
Cellar door(the R’s get in the way, though)
Various -ous words

Crunchy/Sharp:
Crack/le
Kitchen
Frock

Hard:
[expletive]
Smuck
Industry
Click

Hill-y:
Dilapidated
Lollypop
Clustering
Onomatopoeia

I really like the words “chasm”, “abyss”, and “schism”. They sound dissonant, poetic, and they sound kind of like what they mean.

I like California.

Loquacious is one of my favorites! A real high scorer in Scrabble too!

Busom, Cacophony, ingratiated, beans(makes you smile as you say it) cleavage(you smile then pout at the end) sabotage, grimoire, elephantitis.. theres so many!

Azure. Elysian. I love the sound of the “zh” combined with soft vowels.

Tic tac toc isn’t amusing(the sound of the rain,especially at night when you are under you sheet).
Although word “vent”wind in english is even more sensational.If You leave in sea side or tropical country you know what I’m talking about.

I believe Tolkien’s cellar door
Was borrowed from a guy named Theodore.

Mellifluous is a word to adore.
Both its sound and its meaning offer so much more.

(I also secretly enjoy philatelist. It really makes you think something way more exciting than stamp collecting is going on with those guys.)

exquisite is my favorite. also, as somebody mentioned earlier, Melancholy is nice.

I believe ‘cellar door’ is indeed one the beautiful compounds of our language, and for some reason the simple word ‘little’ is my favourite word of all.

Lol i said walrus like ten times before it made sense… imma blonde!

i love the words miscellaneous, broken, anesthesia, maroon, delphiniums, plum, luminescent, enigma, mystery, and anonymous. listen to the way they roll off your tongue so smoothly!

Loquacious is a great word to say. I like the sound.

simple, kiss, smile are my favorite

Loquacious is a great word to say. I like the sound.

Melancholy

Vent is a french word that means wind in english.

Tic tac toc isn’t amusing(the sound of the rain,especially at night when you are under you sheet).
Although word “vent”,wind in english is even more sensational.If You leave in sea side or tropical country you know what I’m talking about.

I like dwell… and suffice… and isn’t gentle the gentlest word one could ever pronounce?
:b

Wow, cellar door? Not pleasing at all. While English is not full of beautiful words, such as other languages like French, there are many more beautiful words out there than cellar door! I personally love the word “Grace”

Cellar door is a nice combination, especially when pronounced with an English accent. I really like the sound of, “Jane Eyre”.

Autobot

*think

Shell rider

Cellar door does come off as euphonic. Soubriquet sounds much better.

For me, words with beautiful meanings usually have a queer, but unique meaning and ring to it. Illustrious, for example, sounds really nice to the ear, but yet also has a picturesque meaning to it. Personally, I love many words in the English language for the way they sound. Celladora to me does sound beautiful now that I think about it. Just like Cinderella (to me) sounds nice although the name came from the word ‘cinders’. Ash to me also sounds nice. Not such a great meaning, but nice ring.

Supple. As in supple breasts.

my favorite word is demon, but i think one of the most beautiful words is genuine.

I can hardly imagine after reading all he comments (good job, crew) that noone has mentioned the word “verisimilitude.” It isn’t milifluous, but it has a kind of jaunty sylabification that is fun.

Do place names also count? Khartom and Cairo both have a certain panache, yes?

similar to “cathedral” or “por favor”

That “cell” sound seems to be a touchstone. My sister says I bought my Celica because I liked the name. When I had it, I never referred to “my car” or “the car”; it was always “my Celica” or “the Celica”. Likewise celeste or celetial lovely words. But the loveliest concatenation of words, for their rarity, has to be “I was wrong.”

i really like supercalafragilisticexpialdocious it seems fun to say when you say it

Leverage.

Cellar Door… Really?
It’s boring.
Bland.
BLAH. And I find boring to be ugly!!
My favorite word, which I find beautiful?
Phantasmagoric.

I like… I think ” Cellar Door” does make one feel happy, but it isn’t my favorite. My fave word is lollapalooza. Is it a word? haha!

good word kelly.i love it

i like supercalifragilistiexpielladocious

I like the word harmony. It flows right out of my mouth and oh such a joyful sound it is unto my ears!

Cello.
Because it sounds good, both as an instrument, and as a word.

i like boogernaut so much.it sounds funny.

I like purple. Cellar door sounds creepy to me. I need to like the meaning as well as the sound. Like pickle, but I wouldn’t chose that word everyday. Some words annoy me. Like fart. It sounds so obscene. I prefer flatulence, but I’m not sure that is a word. I was making a list one time of all the words I really liked, but sadly forgot where I put it. Oh, I really like the word “Shine” or “Sparkle”.

I think that the best sounding words could be Onomatopoeia, The, or Decapitate

“Cellar door,” when said slowly, sounds almost Elvish. I can see why Tolkien would like it! It sounds pretty good to my ears, too. One of those words/phrases that, when heard, makes the mind go “DING! That sounds great!”

i swear everytime I write, no one writes back

One of my high school poetry books named “syphilis” as the most euphonic word in the English language — no joke. Connotation and crotch-foam aside, it does sound kinda pretty

Marina and marine sound beautiful to me

For some reason, I’ve always thought “archipelago” is a fascinating word. The word comes out smoothly, but also brings an image of an island chain to one’s mind.

I love the crispness of ‘femininity’ and ‘defenestration’ when you really enunciate every letter.

Also melodious and malodorous (if you discount the meaning of the latter)

I like many of the words already posted. Cellar door just doesn’t cut it for me, though. One of my favorite words is “prosaic”. I just love the way it sounds. Plethora, mundane, and sophisticated are a few more. My favorite word happenes to be a name: Jesus.

i like Ladle, Sofa, Pajamas, Plug and Elope

transluscent. It just sounds nice

institution sounds nice or prostitution

My favorite is “archipelago.”

Cake is the best sounding word. That’s not my opinion. It’s a fact. (Hmmm… being right sounds pretty good, too!)

most deff evanescence.
or phantasmagorical.
or vitiate.
or protean.
or perspicuous.
i love all words. nbd.

I believe that the reason “cellar door” sounds pleasant is because there are no hard consanants to disturb it’s flow of pronounciation. It is a soft phrase.

i like the word mayhem, dispite its meaning it is a beautiful word to hear. i think all words are beautiful. think asbout this, why did we chosse the word “beauty” to mean beauty, and so on. all words have beauty and sound nice when you put aside the deff. that you all know. any and every lang. is awsome and can be inspiring because we are saying somthing that no other speice has! birds can mimic butdo they hear the real beauty inside what they are saying. when you say that someone is talking just to hear themself its mean in what it meens but wouldnt you do that if you could hear the beauty in your voice. next time you open your mouth listen to what you say and be amased at how beautiful the simplest word sounds. like “the”, thats my second favorite!!!
ps forgive mt spelling.

I like “clod,” “twit,” “chipped beef,” and “chalk and cheese.” I don’t know why.

I wonder if people liked “cellar door” because it vaguely reminds them of “celadon” – - now that’s beautiful, no matter how you look at it!

gosh, Celladora is so pretty. cellar door didnt exactly it…… but celladora is cool.

thingamajig is fun to say….

Think of some names similar to “cellar door”, all pleasant and memorable: Stella Doro cookies, singer Celine Dion, actress Sela Ward….

“Blubber” sounds addictive,
as does “crisp”

flurry

I am a sucker for some names of chemical elements.

“Potassium” as commented here has a energetic feel, probably because the “pota” is very explosive, with the “o” being almost mute. “Platinum” is also energetic for this reason.

I like “Rubidium”, “Tellurium”, “Antimony”, “Palladium”, “Neon” (which could come off as the combination of “neo” and “aeon”, both great words too that when together means “new era”!), “Mercury”, and a few others.

savage is my favorite.

Pulchritudinous. Good choice, but now use it in a sentence. At least it’s easier to say that Svelte (one of my dad’s favorites, but then he was a genius.) I think my favorite word is Mesmerize. The very thought of the conjures up a whole array of mystical prowess.

And I forgot to mention Willow. Pretty little word that is.

Marketing and Economics

It’s the perfect alternation of vowels and consonants. I don’t think this counts as one word, but just say it. Betcha’ want to say it again.

crystal

Calligraphy sounds awesome!!!!!!!!to me

I think the word “aesthetic” is a very soothing word.
Forget describing other words with it, let it use it for itself!

Algorithm rolls off of the tongue nicely.

Or, “algorithmic equation”

Many math words are beautiful.

Arithmetic

for me it’s quite unbelievable i never knew ‘cellar door’ can sound beautiful… i like the words like ‘eternity, colossal, nexus…’ are beautiful, and i kind of use them a lot, i guess it’s just a ,matter of perception that u like certain words more than the other words…

I like those really fun, tongue-twisting words.
FRIPPERY!!

Even though it’s not a word I like supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Never got over it ever since I watched Mary Poppins forever ago.

I like those really fun, tongue-twisting words.
FRIPPERY!!

Even though it’s not a word I like supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Never got over it ever since I watched Mary Poppins forever ago.

I agree. In fact, cellar door *looks* the most beautiful in lower case *italics*. But that could just be me. ^_^

i personally like the sounds of Silhouette and soliloquy. i think there’s a certain patter in the sounds of those words. i Just love how Soliloquy rolls off the tongue. Those are my favorite words.

Jesus!

I have a preference for the following

laughter
lullaby
lollipop
giggles
zzyzx

I never thought about how awesome “cellar door” is to say, because I’ve never had an opportunity to say it, but I’m going to try and work it into conversation, regardless of how loosely connected it is!

My absolute favourite words are:

Lunula
Persnickety (this word is impossible to say without smiling just a little, even on the inside. Go on, try it)
Moratorium
Lachrymose
Anorak
Nevermore
Gesundheit

2 words everyone … “DOUBLE RAINBOW”

“Cellar door” is actually quite soft and gentle to the ears.

My favorite words in order of most liked are: sprinkle(s), pickle(s), proboscis, and putrid.

My favorite word is pomegranate

“cellar door” doesn’t feel any different from any other word, it seems common and nothing special at all. Your “pantry aperture” or “food closet” would sound the same (but that’s probably just me)
I like long less used words. Try phantasmagoria, vignette, or incarnadine.

English is my second language… but I really love “stamina” and “bellybutton”. May not be the most beautiful, but definitely some of the coolest. I think that a lot of non-native English speakers don’t like too many r’s so “celery root” and “aurora” are out of the question to us (are we even allowed to contribute?). The English r’s are way too far back in the throat to be beautiful if you ask me. And can I say that “throat” is a really ugly word? “Persnickety” is awesome and I have no idea about its meaning what so ever.

i like the words cellular, swathed, ombra, twilight, depth, lonely, glass, whale, and figurine,to name a few

wow, mellifluous sounds neat. very musical.
i like justice. illustrious, luminescent, melodious, picturesque, bubble, aquiesce, and some other words mentioned here sounds really sweet. purple is unique.
has anyone thought of mystical? it sounds mysteriously pretty to me…..somehow reminds me of the mist, you can tell why.
cellodora does sound pleasant. but i prefer celladora.
heiroglyphs is a creative wrd too!

I think “easy” is one of the most beautiful words. Also “presidio” even though it’s not an english word. Tranquility, forest, sesquicentennial. Nevada is a nice word as well even though it’s an ugly state. just my two cents

For sheer beauty there are two phrases that I love — “sole heir” and “trust fund”…

I like the sound of “flannel animal.” It seems like it would trip up the tongue, but it’s surprisingly easy to say, and pleasing in the sound and in the feeling over my tongue.

Someone said cello …. But the hard “chuh” sound takes the beauty out of the sound. The sound of the word/phrase is after all what the article was about. And naturally, as stated, vowels make soft sounds that are generally more pleasing. I thought the cellar door was very nice. And I appreciated the person who recognized the similar combined sounds used by Poe.

How is this for the shortest, most beautiful word: obey. Isn’t that a wonderful sound? Obey. Obey. Only four letters. Two syllables. But two long soft vowel sounds. Obey. Remember when Bill Cosby had a short segment on the way obey sounded? Too funny. And too accurate.

i agree with a lot of people
amethyst

I’ve always like the words ‘muliebrity,’ ‘feminine’ and ‘innundate.’

and all the othr gems

Haha I heard this in my fav movie, Donnie Darko.

I love cellary. It’s a place where cellars are built.

sea-side

the s’s are soft, the cadence is poetic- an iamb, and the ee then ay sound is lovely.

you think i care about this word stuff

I think the word ‘Serene’ is a beautiful word that has a beautiful meaning …and feels nice to say.

Soothsayer if said right sounds really nice. also malfeasance. by the way, i’m really tired right now, and saying these words out loud is not helping.

‘Cellar door’, pronounced in a non-rhotic English accent (i.e. without the intervening ‘r’) does sound nice, although its connotations are rather banal. I prefer more outlandish words, especially long ones, such as:

Mellifluous
Eloquent
Serendipity
Tintinnabulation
Deliquescent

I also like the sound of the word ‘eviscerate’; though unfortunately, it does have a rather nasty definition!

My personal favorite word would be “Discombobulated”.
Also “Blaze” and “Fire” sounds cool.
Wow, that’s a long comment thread x3

you know I was thinking… putting two words together… such as ‘Cellar Door’ (which is supposed to be with a british accent by the way… so not with the heavy R’s) is more pleasing than any single word… I can think of so many that have both lovely colors to my synesthesia and great shapes and even the meaning and sound… just a couple I was thinking of ‘Autumn Wheat’ ‘Lucid Crystal’ ‘Carnal Velvet’ ‘Lush Foliage’ and like someone said earlier ‘Luminescent Hues’… and many more… the more I think about Cellar Door the more I like it… both for it’s memory and flow… however relating it to Cellodora or the like actually ruins it for me… as do the colors of the letters in my mind unfortunately… however when I’m not registering the letters then the pure sound of it and thought of what it means is quite pleasing! to me =)

Chuck Norris approves the name Keenu!
Pronounced “Unique” when spelt backwards :3

I like a rather simple word-palatial. It just has a clean, crisp, yet soothing sound

personally i like Pluto, shallow, and cotyledon

liaison

How about the words PEACE, PURITY, ECSTACY, BRILLIANT, SENTIMENT, PRUDENCE

The beauty of every word is distinct itself. of course words are really too interesting in hearing and it also hint about your knowledge of English. All words of English are favorite for me.

Seems a lot of people love sibilants. Me, too. I love hearing them, saying them, even writing them: serendipitous, sough, sirocco, susurrous.

This is simple, any word ending with “ous” like “harmonious” superfluous” “generous”

“Cellar door” does sound pretty good, but “Stormfront forum” sounds even better, in my honest opinion.

I like “superfluous” – SOUNDS super! Maybe even better is “reciprocity”, with liberty and justice for all!

Not this cellar door is the most beautiful phrase thing again. Doesn’t anyone get the joke? It was a reference to the fact that cellar door is where you buy your wine at a vineyard. It was a reference to the fact that the writer loved to drink, and seeing those words meant a good glass of vino was just moments away. Flammin heck, ya bunch of drongos.

Going back to almost the beginning of the post with whoever suggested, that if you put a “name” spin on cellar door, as in Celladora, it really resonated with me as a very much Harry Potter-ish word. I could just close my eyes and hear Hermione saying a spell with it or introducing Harry or Ron to this person. When I do that, the word just flows over me like a magical waterfall, and I let the water flow over me, letting my body, my senses take it all in.

My favorite word:
Ebb

Another word that just came to my mind that I didn’t even realized I like:
Tranquility–what an amazingly beautiful sounding word.

I love the sound of some colours, they tend to conjure up images in your mind like:
crimson, mauve, turquoise, fushia, amaranto etc

Serendipity is one of my favorite words. It’s a happy word. Also, the name, Theodora, sounds
happy. I would love to have had that name.

I don’t why, but i like the word “transcendent”.
P.S. This article was mentioned by 4Q English Learning at http://twitter.com/4qlearning

‘Ameliorate’ and ’soliloquy’ are two favourites of mine. I also like ‘aerious’, partly for how it sounds but also because of it’s significance as the shortest word in the english language with all vowels in alphabetical order

To make cellar door sound good, you have to forget it’s meaning. Once you do, you should get it.

It actually rhymes with my favourite name: Eleanor.

its*

Too many r’s.

‘CRICKET’ music 2 my years

Oh yeah, this is why in the The Big Bang Theory sitcom, Sheldon chose his screen name ’shelldoor’. And of course there are more conection to The Big Bang Theory and this research…

I like to hear Sofi, sofia, nice,pleasure, amusement…

And when you say the word soft you feel the softness and you can not feel the hardness with the word hard.

My two favourite words: ‘pavonine’ and ’silhouette’ (even though the latter is derived from French origins). I am synesthete, and these two words have always seemed almost perfect to me. I always think of a rippling rainbow when I hear ‘pavonine,’ sort of like a peacock unfurling his tail and showing his colours, like the meaning of the word.

Personally, the word “avuncular” will always be one of my favourites… besides, it’s meaning is simply amazing. “To have uncle-like qualities”
Someone tell me that’s not brilliant!

Yeah Cellar door does sound pretty – but whenever I hear I just start singing “lock the cellar door and baaaaby talk dirty to meee!” That kind of kills the effect.

Personally, I like meander. My brother suggested phantasmagoria and logical.

Not really a pretty word but I REALLY love saying ‘plop’. If you say it slowly and pop the p’s it’s so much fun! P-lo-p. Congruent and contrast are fun to say too…

Finally I think the prettiest phrase to look at, and sort of to hear is “Great Barrier Reef” – also the most beautiful place!

Oh and thumbs up to the one who said “Natural Twenty” and “plimsolls”. I laughed out loud.

‘Conflagrate’, ‘Obliteration’(though a bit morbid in meaning), ‘Tranquil’, and my all-time favorite ‘Pterodactyl’. ‘Pterodactyl’ does not only sound great, but it’s spelt awesomely as well =D. Plus I always loved how the ‘P’ is silent xD

“Splendid” is just splendid.

‘Plethora’ is a nice word too

I still say the most beautiful to hear is:

“Do me..”

I like the word “synergy”.
Maybe it’s full of vitality for me because it sounds kind like energy, and the meaning is wonderful too

“Jellyfish” is the greatest word in human history. Just don’t eat a real jellyfish sandwich, OR YOU’LL DIE!!!

I like clapperclaw. But I do love prodigy too.

also Sequestered

‘Sole Heir’ is an amazing combination of words. I think that it does vary a lot depending on the accent you pronounce these words in though. Cellar Door doesnt sound great with an american ‘R’ but sounds great when said slowly with an english accent.

I like the word ostentatious

My personal favorite: lollygagging or lallygagging. I thought ‘trust fund’ was an odd choice…unless you inherit one

“Aureole,” meaning radiant light around a sacred personage. What does everyone think?

I love the way “gentle breeze” sounds. Isn’t it more euphonous that ” cellar door?”
benediction is me another favorite.

sanctuary

i personally love the sound of cacophony.. sounds riotious to the ears. my other personal favourite is jagguarnaut- the enormity is inbuilt in the word itself!!!!!!!

I like “facetious”

intercommunication is white–white letters on the white background–obscenity is all obliterated

Being a non-native English speaker, I must say the sound of R in cellar and door are too strong and non-pleasing for my ears.

‘Cellar door’, meh….
One of my favorites is ’serenity’.
Then there’s ‘zizzybaluba’, lol.

I love reading these suggestions for beautiful words. Certainly serendipity is one of my favorites and many others have been suggested here.

The Native Americans have given us much beautiful language. Words like Conewago (KAN a waaa go), Susquehanna and Iroquois.

Someone mentioned ‘Trixie’, and that made me smile involuntarily, so I think that one rates very high.

My personal favorite is ‘Yosemite’? Could any word be more beautiful than that?

I think it does depend on your accent. ‘Cellar Door’ may sound beautiful spoken with the Queen’s English, but it does nothing for me in my accent.

Words that I like are haberdashery and pantechnicon.

‘The two most beautiful words in the English language are “check enclosed” -Dorothy Parker.

:O

I’ve always admired the way the very sound of the word “soft” perfectly evokes it’s meaning.

one of my ultimate favorites is : ethereal . The meaning of the word has an influence, but the way it rolls off of my tongue with such ease is the main reason.

Who doesn’t love to say Penultimate, it just rolls off the tongue.

I just love the way “however” sounds… I think is nice and yet is a word that can give you like a hope that there are some solutions… I just like that word…

“Cellar Door” reminds me of “Stella D’oro” probably because I’m from Rhode Island where we don’t pronounce our “R’s” very well.
Stella D’Oro- breakfast treats.

Cellar door graphs as a normal curve. Or maybe its just the way I say it if I try to make it sound beautiful.

Cahaba Heights is a neighborhood in Birmingham, AL. What a pleasure to say. Cyberquill, very funny ; ).

Many very pleasant sounding words here! One of my favorites is soliloquy. Rolls off the tongue and has good breath.

I AM SUBMITTING FOR CONSIDERATION “SNOOVE” LITTLE USED THESE DAYS. HOWEVER, IT JUST SOUNDS LIKE WHAT IT DESCRIBES, WHICH IS, TO GLIDE SMOOTHLY.

Plethora – Dearth – Paucity – Pixel

The words that sound beautiful to my ears and have sublime meanings are:
1. Godly
2. Epiphany (not necessarily related to Judeo-Christian meanings)
3. Transcendental
4. Mystic

I think that cellar door sounds stupid, what thick highly paid person came up with that? However, Celladora is stunning. It exudes beauty and passion. I love it!

I like the word/name “Elysium.” (sounds like Aleeseeyum) The Roman idea of Heaven. I think that is a beautiful word with a beautiful connotation.

“BABE.” Its the future.
You seen an old woman and she is a thing of beauty.
So what do you shout at her? BABE of course.

In no order of preference, based solely on euphony:

Virgo (Latin pronounciation), petiole, seraphim, thelonian (if it was a real word), gojira, fortuitous, forever, barrier, thelema

Had a non-English-speaking Russian boyfriend who loved the word ‘cry’. He would repeat it over and over because he loved the sound. Drove me nuts.

My favorite words are thrashing and glistening.

“Seven”. the soft sounds of the s and the v each followed by soft e’s; has kind of a melodic feel.

A professor in a college class said that “lawnmower” is considered the most beautiful word in English because it has no hard sounds.

good one. personnaly, my favorite word to hear is “yes”

I’ve always been partial to the word “scissors”. I just like the three “sss” sounds in it. It is a fun word to say: “scissors…scissors…scissors”

mine is either ‘constipated’ or ‘ostrabogulous’

Moist ….. it just is!

The poet, Dorothy Parker, said the two greatest words in the English language are, ‘cheque enclosed’.

My personal favourites are jejune and vicissitudes. There’s something about the sound of them.

I like:

pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis

It rolls off the tongue…

“Gwendolynevere” is a name I made up for a character in a children’s play. It goes on a bit, but I think goes on melodically.

I once read where it was thought Marilyn Monroe was more popular in Japan than Jayne Mansfield because her name rolled off the tongue better…and it’s true. It’s a lot softer and more sensual. As was Marilyn. Sigh.

euphonious … definitely … it is what it is. And something iPhone addicts love to hear, You phoning us. Yeah

Divine, and Elysian. 2 fav words.

YIN

Divorcing the word from its denotation, purely on aesthetics…
Yes, celery is really beautiful.

Okay, for those who have a hard time separating word from meaning, mentally stick the word into the mouth of someone definitely not speaking English. Imagine the movie(s) The Lord of the Rings. Galadriel (or insert your favorite elf here) turns to speak to the elf on her right, and says:
“Celery.” Or “Callibration,” “serenity” (pronounce it “ser-” not like “sir”), “vivacious” (pronounce “viv” to rhyme with “give”). Okay, now lets put it all together into a lovely monologue, say it low, slow, and soft:
“Lothlorien luminescence. Cinnamon serenity ethereal celery.”

lol. ~ Celestial, vivacious, melodious. Yes, sounds flowing from the front of the mouth tend to please. Also aesthetic are “v” “z” and soft “th” sounds, but I can’t think of very many examples at the moment. I have a line from a Japanese-language film where the speakers voice goes low (he draws up near to another characters ear, threatening) and he says a few syllables that have a soft “th” sound near each other–it sounds so beautiful, and even sexy.

Try “September”

A phrase that always sounded great to my ear – From Poe’s the raven: “The silken sad uncertain rustling…”

And I like Celladora as well…

wow lotsa postings on this subject:)
i hate to use a word that someone else has already said but honestly in my opinion the most beautiful word in the english language is elysian, so kudos mr.d i couldn’t agree more:)
however when i think of beauty the word that first comes to mind is one i have yet to see on this post… woman. now there is beauty.
as for my funnest word (yes i know funnest is not a real word) it has to be my nickname for my dog… gooberdoob. you can have so much fun with that set of sounds and letters. ex. goobgooberydoob. gooberisdooberis, doobgoober, goobdoober, gooberygoobdoob, etc,etc.

Cellar door has a beautiful ring to it.

I also love the word lunula and loose especially loose

I think this discussion would not be complete without the word SHANGRI-LA. It is evocative and flows so well off the tongue!

It’s funny that so many peoples favorite words are onomatopoeias which incidentally is one of my favorite words along with eldritch, bulbous and deliquesce.

I have lots of favorite words! But I’d have to say that ASKEW is close to the top of that list.

ABSOLUTELY! love that word. sounds great and always instirs a feeling of connection; however annoying if said/heard too often.

Personally, I like the sound of “wine cellar door” better…

to stick my oar in…
fudge, clock, Irish – hmmmm, all beautiful to say.

I like: liquid, sphere, eucalyptus, saturn

This was a magnificent article ans I loved reading it. Words and language are beautiful and it can speak to everybody. ROCK ON!!!!!!!!! FASHIZZLE MY NIZZLE!!!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

From a panel of english language hobbyists made up of representatives from over two dozen colleges and universities it was voted upon that the word,”ac·qui·es·cence” is the most beautiful word to say off the tongues of americans.
The comments stated that the word,”ac·qui·es·cence” rolls off the tongues of our people with an inherent road bump of sorts that forces pleasure to slow the word down enough to appreciate.

A few of mine are; Quantum , omnipitance, velveteen and blissful oblivion.

I like the city name Rey·kja·vik   /ˈreɪkyəˌvik, -vɪk/ Show Spelled
[rey-kyuh-veek, -vik]. As in the capitol of Iceland. Wreck-ya-vick. I love how it sounds. Not an English word though.

“unique” is my favourite word which sound excitness,hear surprising, love to spell and meaning is something different, unusual,stunt, surprising

“Personally, I like the sound of “wine cellar door” better…”

lol nice.

I personally do like the sound of cellar door it does sound nice now that I think about it as well serendipity.

Altruistic is the most beautiful sounding word in my opinion!

I think what makes “cellar door” so pleasing is the fact that you don’t even have to put any work into saying it. Think about it… you are mostly speaking with your tongue, not really having to move your jaw at all. So having a phrase slip out of your mouth in that way is rather sensual

cobble stone ismy favorite word because whenforming the word in your mouth, your tongue acts as thought it is holding a small pebble in the center ofyour tonge.The word is formed around an imaginary stone on your tongue, giving true connection to the meaning

Lug nut. As in “I love my little lug nut”.

Glacial and glass are clearly the most beautiful words in the English language.

Solitude, is a beautiful word, I think. Kinda similar sounds to cellar door actually, tastes nice in my mouth to say!

my favorite word is puzzle =)

I agree with Jen-I also love the word Pulchritudinous. also Truffle. ? yeah? lol (:

I feel somewhat refreshed when I say fleeting, a very flowing and wavy word to me.

I like the word ‘Fox’. It’s sexy, canine and cool – all in three letters.

A few of my favourite words are “esoteric”, “idiosyncrasies” and, oddly enough – “odd”! “Demure” is also very beautiful.

I think there are a lot of words that sound beautiful to me, to name a few: GANACHE, ONOMATOPOEIA, PIXY, EXCRUCIATING. None of them related huh?

a word that is the best is Wonderland. Close your eyes and say it slowly and see what comes up.

a word that is the best is Wonderland. Close your eyes and say it slowly and see what comes up. ^_^

Susurrus. It means a murmuring, whispering, or rustling sound, and it makes me think of wind sighing through reeds in a marsh.

I like lagoon.

Hmmm…Well, seems to me that whether a word is euphonious or not is a pretty subjective matter, as (I’m sure everyone knows) what is pleasant to one may not necessarily be pleasant to another…(you know, that whole thing about each person being different from everyone else…KIND OF like the fingerprint deal, where no two prints are the same…) While some of us may agree on the euphony of one word, I think it just all comes down to the preference of each person as a individual entity.

Just for the kicks, though…I think “Gazelle” or words whose sound end with “-elle”, “-lor” “-era” are particularly euphonious. Also…the Spanish language in general is dulcet.

I like the word candle. For some reason that has always been one of my favorites.

For me this two words came to mind… calligraphy and hydrochlorothiazide

If you listen to the sound and ignore the meaning, then I vote for “vermin.”

chevrolet…kept thinking of that word while I read all the comments.

Cellar Door isn’t particularly pleasing to me

I do like these phrases and words though

Cerebellum
Diagonal
Clarity Distraught
Calligraphic Influenza
Infusion
Fiery
Caligraphy
Nine Saphires
Horrendous
Lacking Rendezvous
Ethereal Grotesque
Helvetica
Disposition
Reckless Abandon
Staggered Abode
Forbade
Unhindered dreams
Physiological

I personally like the word “telephony”

I’ve always loved malevolent. This will be a bit of a stretched reference for this forum, but if anyone is familiar with David Warner’s mesmerizing voice-acting for the character Jon Irenicus in the PC game Baldur’s Gate II, I don’t think the word has ever been personified more becomingly.

Also at the top of my list are noctuary, noctivagant, and nycthemeron. I’m not sure why the darker themes are so appealing to me.

Oh, and MALICIOUS, it just sounds incredibly

The word only sounds mildly beautiful, in my opinion. It just doesn’t really appeal to me, even when I don’t consider the definition/connotations.
If I had to say what the most beautiful word in the English language is, I’d say “willow”, or at the very least I think that sounds much better than “cellar door”.

Phalanges.
Saying it makes me giggle!

For me, “sacrifice” has lovely movement when I say it and is beautiful to hear.

I’ve always liked, “salicylic”, but I know cellar door is very popular. “The Hobbit” is my favorite among the Lord of the Rings series.

“Euphony”, “onomatopoeia”, “rhapsodize”, “ennui”, “genesis”, “crimson”, “scarlet”, “exquisite”, “apocalypse”, “crestfallen”, “crystalline”, and “amorous” all come to mind as some of my favorite-sounding words.

Anyone else grow up w/ Sesame Street’s Bert and Ernie singing the “L” song? At one point Bert is singing about Lumps in his oatmeal, and Ernie’s like, “I was thinking about words that are more Lilting and Lovely.” And Bert comes out with, “La la la, LINOLEUM!”

Celery root is beautiful. Mellifluous, cinnamon, thorough, vivid, woodthrush, windswept, fifty-three, linden, lemongrass. I like words where you have to slow down a split second to really enjoy the sounds on your tongue. Poem “We become new” by Marge Pearcy has some great combinations: “goes into the blood like garlic/… fragrant as thyme honey.”

What about words that sound awful despite their meanings? I think “Pulchra uxor” is hideous, but it means “beautiful wife.” Try complimenting someone on their pulchritude; they won’t be flattered unless they know the Latin root, and even then…! And watch yourself in the mirror while saying “benignant.” “He gave a benignant smile.” It doesn’t look pretty.

Akimbo……. I love the sound, and the meaning.

Oh, and “epiphany”, “blaze”, “raven”, and “raconteur”.

Cellar door does sound somewhat… lovely… as I say it, but I also find pleasure in the word “lathe,” as in the wood-making tool. I honestly don’t believe there actually is a “most beautiful word;” nonetheless, “lathe” and also “bonzo” sound funny, but awesome, to me. Why these words? That reason, my friends, is currently unknown (try saying them — you’ll know what I mean).

The most beautiful word in the English language? Why, “beautiful”. Really. That was the first thing that came to mind. Much nicer than “cellar door”.

The most beautiful word in any language? I propose that it’s the one and only combination of semi-consonants and vowels that produces all the overtones of the harmonic series in “overtone chanting”, if I understand what Jill Purce (UK) has brought out in my presence: the proper pronunciation of the Hebrew Tetragrammaton, in the Pi’el stem, *Yehawweh* (in overtone chant, “i-a-o-u-eh-ee”, close enough).

my favorite word is murmurous. by the way, have you noticed that March, the month, and march, the way of walking, feel completely different even though they sound the same?

Those ‘beautiful’ words by the experts sounds stupid. I think to each’s own. Doesn’t take an expert to know that!

I personally think the greatest word in the English language is Superfluous. I love that word.

Serendipity

I also just realized (in addition to my above comment) that “qualities” is quite the word to love. BTW: Do you know the longest word in the English language? I love to say it: pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconioses (NOO-muh-no-ul-tra-mic-ro-scop-ic-SI-luh-co-vol-cay-no-co-nee-OH-seez). It’s a disease caused by the inhilation of metallic or silica dusts. Can you imagine the doctor walking in and saying that you have that? No, I didn’t look it up and copy and paste in; I know it by heart. LOL.

Ugh, I’m not done yet!!! I just thought of quite a few more I love:
Chattel
Malignant
Judiciously
Hover
Evasion
Simultaneous
Perpetual bliss
Spic and Span
Subliminally
Especially
Inquisitive
Assuage
Continuous Rhythms
Let me know what you guys think!!!

Reminds me of the brand name Stella D’Oro.
I like the sound of the word reciprocity.

I like lucid too, but I like the company name Lucent even better.

I’ve heard some other expert claim “melody” as the most beautiful word in the English language, and it is a good word. It’s pleasing to the ear, the sound of it is reminiscent of the meaning, and it doesn’t have any creepy connotations.

Nonetheless, I like the word combo from 30 Rock…. “rural juror”.

mm i think “teeth” and “shower” sound nice…

I LOVE supercalafragalisticespicaladocious! And of course whatamacallit, oh and boomerang

Liquid

i think hello is the most beautiful word because it can start so many new things and leads to new oppertunities( i do not care if i spelled that wrong)that single word can leed you on to life. that one word can start anything. buisnes, school, friendship , love. it really is a beautiful word

oh.. i wrote that twice…. my bad

elegant

ululate

syzygy

Phosphorescense. It is so smooth. Imagine yourself mouthing it silently to your lover across a busy room. It is extremely sensual. Close your eyes and say it slowly.

Soliloquy is my absolute favorite word. It means the act of talking while or as if alone (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/soliloquy). It just tastes good and I love the way it sounds.
After soliloquy for me comes dilapidated, which I notice Moosh has already said!

I like the words “Matchless”, ubiquotous and so on.

Cloaca. Especially given its meaning.

I’m upset the article doesn’t mention to pronounce “cellar door” with a British accent, as those people arguing for the phrase’s elegance were in fact British.

“Selador” was an example Tolkien gave as the name of a character he imagined; he created a story all about Selador based on the sound of “cellar door” …

I am fairly sure I read this in an excerpt of his posthumously published notes.

Funny because I’ve always found the name “Isildur” to be very beautiful sounding, and it sounds a bit like “cellar door”. Maybe Tolkien was onto something.

sobriquet
everything
lachrymose
philosophical (the way jason mraz says it)

My Favorite Word is “MAGNANIMOUS”. I like it because it has the grandeur associated with it. It sounds wonderful

Certainly, ‘cellar door’ is mellifluous and ‘mellifluous’ is a delicious-sounding word. Another good word that I like to day is, ‘lobster,’ saying every letter so that it involves the tongue rolling down behind the front teeth and upper and lower lips coming together…another word that I like to say is, ‘paper’ and, or, ‘crumpled paper.’

“WONDERFUL”

Cellar Door? Are you for real? It sounds and feels disgusting. Sir Lancelot…now say that out loud. Much better.

My 4 month old smiles every time I say “so serious” or “so silly” so the phrases must sound nice to him, since he has no clue what they mean.

I don’t know why, but I’ve always liked the way “cusp” sounds.

I enjoy “cinnamon” and “divinity”

My favourites are holly, marshmallow, cuddly, soft, cute, chocolate, romantic, love, boyfriend, date, husband, kiss, wedding, baby, blue, bubblegum, mint, chocolate chip, twilight, new moon, eclipse, breaking dawn, vampire, Edward, Bella, Jacob, hot, Stephanie Meyer

I pretty much never swear at all, which strikes me odd because my favourite word is a swear word…umm…I really like the word bitch because it is short and to the point so it kinda sounds smart…
my favourite name would be erin though…personal reasons

I pretty much never swear at all, which strikes me odd because my favourite word is a swear word…umm…I really like the word bitch because it is short and to the point so it kinda sounds smart…
my favourite name would be erin though…personal reasons

I think my two favourites are “cemetery gates” and “rotisserie chicken”. The latter is a bit obscure, yes, but lovely to say. I’m sure the phonaestetic effect is more apparent when using a pair of words or a phrase rather than just a single word. Maybe there’s some kind of formula to it – the way the mouth moves perhaps? The combination of sibilance in the first word and a hard final syllable are common to both “cellar door” and “cemetery gates”. Of course, “rotisserie chicken” doesn’t quite fit to this pattern, but is comparable.

“Rusty grate” isn’t bad either.

I think my favorite, best sounding English word is ethereal becasue it sounds so light and airy; there aren’t any harsh sounds in it, plus I love the meaning as well.

My favourite english word, without a doubt, is MURDER

“Terpsichorean”, with the emphasis on the antipenultimate syllable, not the penultimate.

I honestly like the words beryl, blunderbuss, azure, cerulean, scarlet, and adoration.

I think some of the best sounding words to me are:

Cadence
Thrush
Parisienne
Troubadour

In addition to Cellar Door of course.

The Raven is my favourite poem. Thanks to the person who spoke about the Nevermore – Cellar Door connection!

“Bills Magic Pocket”

I like the word “ajar”

Superfluous, lackadaisical, flare (or flair), frigid, rosy, eclat, cerulean, coronation, scurvy, clueless, emancipation, higgledy-piggledy, ingenue, elegant, simply, paltry, melody, miscreant, naive, wretched, contemptible, eloquent, meadowlark, sibilant, portly, smack, deplorable, dismal, philosophy, piteous, meager, elocution trifling–not all fundamentally lovely, but indubitably appealing to the ear or the tongue. And this is a piddling, negligible fraction of the utterances I could select. =D
Is there a word for someone who discerns the texture of words? or that might be too typical.

Resolution & Hullaballoo. Also, my favorite German word, Dudelsack (bagpipes).

To me the most beautiful word is Nowches. ;p

I think cellar door is a rather nice sounding word. I think it is my new favorite. I also like milieu, loquacious, sesquipedalianism is a fun word. But just after cellar door sojourn.

Love your comments people! Thanks! I learned so many new words!

My favourites are: honey, harmony, darling among many others.
And of course I love my name: Ariadna (kudos Mommy!)
…even though people often have a hard time pronouncing it! lol

HaHa I love LOL

I think onomatopoeia is a nice word to say and hear

My fave is Lebanon

I love the word “CHANDELIER”. I KNOW IT TO BE OF FRENCH ORIGIN, BUT IT SORT OF JUST HAS A MELODIC SOUND AND ROLLS OFF OF THE TONGUE.

@Mark: “How about French words that are now part of English? I love ennui, ingenue, cachet, and recherche. I also love garage and blaise and jejune. Also, less common Victorian words like (dis)approbation or odious or apothecary”

Do I know you? I love Nick Cave.

Good article. My favorites are probably
Croatia
Jesus
Skillet (awesomest band ever)
and others that I can’t remember
Boba Fett trumps all!!!!

Ever since I’ve heard it the first time, I’ve loved it. The sound, and also the irony of the meaning:

Sesquipedalian… I love it.

haven’t been online in a while but hope it’s not too late to chime in, so here goes…

although i’d never consider either word “phonaesthetic”, two of my simple favorites are AKIMBO and UNDULATE. while i didn’t expect to see either make the list, Theresa already had akimbo.

other words (some mentioned, some not) i particularly enjoy saying or hearing:

Arugula
Willow
Nitwit
Pixie/pixel/pickle
Susurrus
Effable
Bifurcate
Alpha
Misogynist
Fractal
Solipsistic
Perspicacity
Inveigle
Punctilious
Abstruse
Heuristic
Trouser Socks

words already listed that seriously crack me up:

Boogernaut
Plimsolls
Persnickety
Clapperclaw
Kerfluffle
(am working on ways to sneak them in to conversations at future cocktail parties!!)

to Dan the Man: at least we now know what ALGOLAGNIA means in those personal ads;

to Another Random Texan: you’re absolutely correct. PNEUMONOULTRAMICROSCOPICSILICOVOLCANOCONIOSIS really DOES roll right off the tongue;

to Dick P: like your word PHILATELIST, PUGILIST also sounds more mysterious than its meaning;

to Mairead: you’re right. it really IS sad and disturbing that some people can not even spell their favorite wurd – sorry! couldn’t resist;

N.B. i’ve always closed my letters to my little sister with ” I love you oodles and oodles of noodles and poodles.” i can’t help it but even now, after more than four decades, those words STILL make me smile!!!

Thank You to Russ:

WOW….. SESQUIPEDALIAN. An extremely artful word. Can’t wait to use it. Oh, and I forgot DIAPHANOUS before. Also very sexy!

Malodorous is a word I love to say. I go by “mouth feel,” or the way the pronunciation of a word physically affects my oral cavity and face/tongue/pharyngeal muscles. I also like to say lolly-pop and Elizabeth (especially when the z in Elizabeth sounds a little like an s).

Dr. Seuss books often give me the same thrill when read aloud. Constantinople and Timbuktu!

Dream, tropical

Cappuccino. I has a wonderful sound, and I love coffee.

i love unctious, enough said

Probably the best phrase to hear is “it’s free.”

But I think the neatest word to say is “soliloquy.” The only problem is you can only say it when alone.

Glottal stops always disgust me! Some hair-raising examples: Yogurt, Cottage, Goggles, Clinical

my fav is “altruism”

I really like the words Eureka and Viera, but they have to be pronounced in spanish to be very soothing.

sounds kinda stupid to me.

I always think that “atrocious” is a sweet sounding word, despite its negative meaning.

iLike Eclectic

I 100% agree with DoctorDoctor Liverpudlian is one of my favorite words for the meaning and sound. I also love that it applies to The Beatles, as DoctorDoctor mentioned, for I love The Beatles!

So many lovely words!

I cherish “CHERISH” for how it sounds and what it does.

Sleep…
Delight…
Mellifluous…
Melodious…
Sweet…
Cute…
You…
Whisper…
Dream…
Beautiful…
Rain…
Soft…
Silk…

[...] we’re exposed to in our hip-hop linguistic race. — Specifically we’ve been given “CELLAR DOOR” as the most Euphonious Phrase in the English Language by the expert’s who take us downward [...]

I like Sophi’s comment about “march,” and I agree with “philosophy,” which is probably my favorite word for sound and meaning.

My high school English Lit teacher told us way back in 1969 that the French had nominated “cellar door” as the most beautiful phrase in the English language. The idea predates Tolkien, according to this article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/14/magazine/14FOB-onlanguage-t.html?_r=1. I like “cellar door” with Midwest American r’s, which sound soft and round to me.

More than individual words, I’m intrigued by the euphony of sentences and paragraphs. Even in prose, putting words together is an art.

No wonder Italian is considered the most beautiful language in the world by many…
I think ‘cellar door’ was picked because it sounds like Italian or French.

i LOVE the phrase “cellar door”!!!!!!! it rolls of your tongue beautifully!

some good words: verdant, onyx (I like the sight and sound of that one), amethyst (ditto).
Some bad words: pulchritude! It definitely does not convey its meaning–too harsh. I’ve also heard a lot of people hate moist. Personally, for onomatopoeic reasons, I hate piss.

“Asia” – three syllables, one consonant. Beautiful.

This is NOT true! Shakspear was once asked what his favorite word was and he said it was Cellar Door. Not because of the word itself but because of the beautiful discription conjured in his memories. You need to do some more homework on this!

The most beautiful word in the English language is “retired.”

When I was a child, in the ’50s, my father (an English language junkie) told me “cellar door” was the most beautiful phrase in the language. I didn’t get it then, but I do now.

Personally, my favorite word has always been plethera. I also really like epiphany.

Formica dinette. I heard that the other day, and love it.

Some nice-sounding words to think about…’Verona’, very satiny and watery, like a girl’s name…’ledger’–choppy and snappy(snappy’s a nice word too)…ever thought about the word ‘brouhaha’–it’s hilarious to say!i also like the sound of ‘extemporanea’, ‘cycle’, ‘mercurial’,and ‘name words’, like Sebastian, Evangeline, and Sheridan. A point to think about–lots of peoples’ words seem to be two-or-more syllables; maybe there is something in the flow & repetition of these words that seem more like verse or poetry than simply a collection of letters to express what you mean.

my favorite word is “dear” it really sounds wonderful to my ear,.

I like “Cotillion”. Starts off with two strong consonant sounds and then softens beautifully.

no…ppl dont no wat they talking bout…Majenta..now thats a kool word

Glossiolalia- it’s long, flowing, and onomatopoeic

carressing

Gotta be “Gazebo.” Say it to yourselves, people. GA-ZEE-BO. Gazebo, gazebo, gazebo.

“Bulbous” is a serious contender as well.

Oh, and I find it surprising how many people can’t spell their favorite words.

For me, words that have a sentimental meaning tend to appeal to me more. I also like names that end with -cia, such as Alicia or Elincia. They sound like graceful people, coming from the euphony of their names. Also, I agree, Celladora is pretty and, to my mother and me, is much better than cellar door. My dad says that phrase that’s most pleasing to his ears is ,”time to eat!” X3

“AWESOME” sounds very good and is awesome

“Ginger pigeon” easily beats out cellar door as the most pleasant two words to say together. Try saying ginger pigeon a few times, and then try to tell me I’m wrong.

Islam is a very nice word. It has a nice ring, a nice meaning, nice origin, etcc…

I think that one of the most beautiful words in English is the word, “symbiotic”. It sounds like it is spelled; It rolls off the tongue; It tickles your ears; It has bright colors; It’s tones are vibrant; and the definition is stunningly beautiful.

as someone mentioned Yaweh is a great, robust word. It’s very breathy and I like that
but i think the most beautiful word is Nuance- it’s strong in all the right places but still very gentle to hear

I love the word ONLY but I also like other estrage word, that makes my ears wake up and enjoy hearing it.

This word is FLOCCI NAUCINIHILIPILIFICATION.
I thins it’s the largest in the english language.

Marcos Martinez 14 years
Spain Cuenca

@Buonvino: Totally. “Ginger pigeon” is the greatest thing I have ever heard.

Although the best word in the English language is “xanthous,” hands down. I opened a dictionary to the X section once and saw it. What cooler word could possibly have such a simple definition? “1. yellow; 2. yellowish.” Love it.

I like CRAWDAD HOLE

“Beautiful” is the most beautiful word. In sound and meaning.

I THINK THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WORD IS ”LACKADAISICAL”DESPITE ITS MEANING.
ALL THE BEST!

Leninism

some people are trying to find the most beautiful word here: http://en.bab.la/most-beautiful-word/

you should check it out… but it’s very addictive :p

I had an English teacher in high school — back in the 70’s — who, along with “cellar door,” cited “gonorrhea” as some-authority-or-another’s choice for euphonic king.

Adrenaline or Enemy everytime.

Dudes and dudettes out there, I’m sorry. I think the most beautiful phrase ever is… Happy Noodle.
The best word is… Cow.
Don’t laugh. Here are some more words:
Cookie. Candy. Milk. Shroom. Sushi. Ninja. Smap.
And one more. Massage. But pronounce it like mass-a-jee.

Peace. Chewy,
Chewbacca

jux·ta·po·si·tion or jux·ta·pose.

Yin and Yang in English; I love it!

The word caught my eye, because it is so interesting to look at….A J and and an X in the same word, 5 vowels! The definition is just as wonderful.

jux·ta·po·si·tion
–noun
an act or instance of placing close together or side by side, especially for comparison or contrast.

I love the word “pretense”…

Don’t know why, I think it’s because of a song I used to listen to when I was little

whisper
gnome
sassy

I’d say “elusive” or “envelope.”

Pagination. Hands down!!

The winners are below:

How about a “Healthy” word….. “Selubrious”

A name……”Bella”

A thing…….”Mothers Milk”

Where the MM comes from….”Big Bouncy Bodaciously Beaming oh so Beloved and Bountiful……….Breasts!” They are so comforting…you may rest on my breasts….why thank you…they are simply the best…above all the rest…I will make them my nest…I do not jest…for I will be their guest…and will never be a pest….to that I can attest…when I start my quest for your breasts with plenty of zest….oh how I love your breasts…they put me to the test….so lay back and let me enjoy the fest…..I am blessed….whoever would have guessed?

And finally……..”Yummmmmm”….oooh it’s oh so good!!

Last time I heard Cellar Door was when someone pushed me down the Cellar Stairs….AHhhhhhhhhh!!! I do like Shelladora though!
Shut the door!!…what door?…the Shellardoor….leaves a bad taste in my mouth!!

Zephyr. LOVE that word.

Isn’t this all sort of pointless? no one in the world is the same, so everyone has different preferences.It’s stupid and idiotic to believe that everyone in the whole world will agree on the same word as “the most euphonic word in the english language” because everyone likes different sounds.

I’ve always loved the sound of “jubilate”

I like esoteric!

Some words I do not see that I personally enjoy are whimsical, innuendo,
dollop, dubious, and for some reason I love the combination of petty tyrant…I love this post btw *kudos*

my favorite word(s) are aqua and love.

Bamboo! (forest)

Celladora is beautiful, too bad its female only

Symphony, gobbledygook, mnemonic, plebian, pneumonia, idiosyncrasies, effervescence, syllables, sibilant, odious…. they feel good in my mouth. Love, love, looove!

My favorite word is “svelte”.

I agree with the words cellar door but I’m a South African and we drop our ‘r’s. my favourite word is melodious.

personally my favorite word is rambunctious, it has a nice rough sound that is still playful

I would rather go for the words such as,
Aurora
Gorgeous
Serendipity
Debonair
Sophisticated
Jaunty
Charming
Whilom
Cache
Chauvinism
Aisle

I love all words that mean confusing: flummoxed, frazzled,, dumfounded, addled, baffled, and especially flabbergasted. And Tolkien’s confusticated. Great words!

My personal favorite is “Wife”!!! You are incomplete without her and she without you!!!!

Not related to “the most beautiful word” but I don’t know a better place to post this suggestion for another question to ask the readers:

What is your favorite word?

One of my favorite words is “sesquipedalian”. Rather than spoil the fun by blabbing out its definition to the readers, I’ll let them look it up and laugh, the way I did years ago.

(By the way, it’s only one and a half feet if you use the correct font size.)

–H

Eleemosynary is the most beautiful word, hands down.

So many great words already listed. Here are some others that sound pleasing to me that I like prounouncing:

Amalgamation
Antiquity
Astound
Arctic
Befuddled
Bungalow
Coral
Discombobulate
Emerald
Elixir
Fleeting
Flutter
Isotope
Jalopy
Labyrinth
Lichen
Oboe
Oracle
Perplexed
Polar
Promulgate
Puddle

and 1 more:

Delectable

ok just 2 more (this is quite addictive)

Isosceles
Parallelogram

ok ok I also like:

chrome
comatose
cryptic
pandemonium
panacea

Sigh… at the bottom again. Actually, sigh is a world I do find beautiful. Others would include sweet, melancholy, mournful, gentle, soft, shelter, tranquil, and serene. Just writing them makes me feel more relaxed.

Ariados. Sycorax. I have a ton of favorite words!

Ooh, wait! I know! Psychadelic!

I think this combination has a beautiful flow, as well as a smooth texture to your tongue: “Believe eternal cello” and another great word is: “Symphony”.

[...] November 29, 2010 About two weeks ago we shared the fact that many language experts believe “cellar door” is the most euphonious phrase in the English language. More than 400 people replied to our [...]

Heteroscedasticity

I love the word Iridescent

i love the word communism. plus it’s so fun to write. over and over and over. i could write it all day!

I like the word reciprocate. Has a nice ring to it. Also, paradigm, harbinger, zephyr, and the word paradox.

“Sophisticating” Itself is sophisticating!

I don’t know why but I think the most beautiful words are those that contain the letter L, like: ripple, velvet, lullaby, willow, linger, melody, elope, silk, ladle, mulberry….
And for some reason I love collecting girls names that, to me, sound ‘pretty’: Penelope, Felicity, Isla, Lilo (said Lee-Low) and Amelia – to name but a few!

I think it does have something to do with childhood, there has to be a reason sounds like “la” “li” and “lo” sound so soft and soothing to me.

Sensual
Soft
Silk
Honey
Willow
Whisper

I like the ‘pa’ and ’ss’ sound, like in pixie powder, and ice, or soot..

Memories. That is a sweet word that evokes nostalgia and all kinds of
sentiments. Which makes me think of another word I really like the sound of…sentimental

I like the word “lucid”. Caitlkn’s right- there’s something soothing about Ls.

Oops. I mean Caitlin’s right.

@Daniel i am also a synesthete but i see almost completely different colours to you! for example, lucid is a vibrant yellow whilst vivid is lime green. but i agree with you on both names except Ron. i find Ron to be a murky brown and to smell awful.
i also agree with your statement that we are all partially synesthetic – i didn’t even realise that what i felt wasn’t the norm until i heard a fellow synesthete describing the condition!

I’ve always loved the phrase “kangaroo court” and the vivid imagery it produces.

I’ve always loved the word crimson. All kinds of sounds there–including the soft choclatey-ness of the smooth m, and the crisp cr, ending on a final sort of note with the nnn.
Have you noticed a lot of words sound like their meanings? Like rock. Not a single sound is soft; but stone is different. Stone. Sounds smooth (s and n) and cold (t) and round (o), doesn’t it?

@Kate You are so right. It sounds even cooler as a name! Well,like that!

@Rachel I agree that it is a pretty name! But it reminds me of “The Hunger Games” trilogy by Suzanne Collins. It reminds me of the odd,but beautiful and magnificent names they have,like Cinna and Venia.

~Adriana

This sure is shocking!

for years i couldn’t figure out why tolkien thought the phrase “cellar door” was so beautiful. then i realized that he’s british, so he would kind of drop the Rs off the ends of the words, especially the one on “cellar”. so he actually doesn’t say “cellerrr dorrr” like an American such as I; instead, he says “celladoh”, which sounds much prettier.

I still don’t think it’s the prettiest, though.

“Innocent Bliss”

It captures a feeling of youthfulness, carefree pleasure, and euphony. I use this all the time when I write–it captures such a great feeling “)

@Ariana–must agree with the name “Cinna”…such a great name. Those books are awesome too “)

onomatopoeia I like the way it flows when you say it and I think it fits well with its meaning its more of a sound than a word

“Tinder”, or anything that rhymes with it, such as “hinder”.

“Iridescent”, “iris”, “lyric”, “satirical”, etc. “Luminescent”, “effervescent”, “fluorescent”.

anything with a lot of L’s, U’s, V’s and the shh sound, “lush”, “veil”, “lullaby” etc. Also any F and L combination, like “flame”.

U, N, and D together- “understand”, “bundle”.

My favorite word is freedom

Catharsis. Cathartic. It’s like a breath of relief just saying any form of the word.

I don’t like the word “serendipity” …. it sounds like “surrounded by pity” or “serena needs pity” ……

I like how coelecanth is pronounced.
endive
obsfucate is fun to say
lioness

rhododendron seems to be a favorite–I see it a lot in contemporary poetry

I’ve got personal favorites of “extraneous”, “aberration”, “monotonous”, and “idiosyncrasies”. I do realize it is a weird combonation, but the way they are said is what makes them seem beautiful to me.

serenity, tranquil, forlorn (if u don’t think of meaning), hooligan ( if said with posh voice and) and nincompoop. always brings a smile on my face every time.

How about “cello store” instead of “cellar door?” It already has the association with a pleasant sound

I like serendipity too!!!!

And “cello store” is pretty good too. Go cello!

Edgar Allen Poe’s poem “Ulalume” is absolutely full of gorgeous words:

“And now, as the night was senescent
And star-dials pointed to morn –
As the star-dials hinted of morn –
At the end of our path a liquescent
And nebulous lustre was born,
Out of which a miraculous crescent
Arose with a duplicate horn –
Astarte’s bediamonded crescent
Distinct with its duplicate horn.”

my favorites are melody, piano, sanctuary, vulnerable, sympathy, and party

the most beautiful word is “beautiful” love, care, affection, kindness, compassion, tolerance,patience,truth,righteousness,and lastly peace which are good to hear and see.and my husband’s name which I love the most “Bali”.thank you.

sonorous, euphonium, mellifluous, and Egyptian

and heliotrope.

I like surrender….the ultimate giving of one’s self makes this word beautiful to me. Also: unconditional, devotion, sacrifice, agape.

susurrus

Also submitted as a candidate for the grossest/worst sounding word.

“Serenade” but with [-ah, not -ay], “cigarette”, “undo”,

hubris

I think the some of the most beautiful sounding words in the English language are antique, clarity and tear drop, even though it’s technically a compound word. I also think cellar door does sound very pretty.

i do think that cellar door sounds pretty

i think some of the most beautiful / my favorite words are

velvet (sounds pretty)
noodles (fun to say )
chlorophyll (say it slow and let your tounge enjoy each sound)
boutique (how you spell it compared to how you say it is wierd)

also, i aggree with maddi with tear drop.

wow i never noticed how beautiful “cellar door” truly is!

Honestly, my least favorite word is pulchritudinous (means beautiful) and my favorite is probably along the lines of mellifluous, gorgeous (because of how my friend says it), deoxyribonucleic, or pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis for its length.

If we’re all going to jump on the ‘cellar door’ bandwagon, I nominate that we change the spelling just a little to make the sound & flow of the word even more pleasing & a little smoother… and besides, that way someone will definitely name their kid after it, because it sounds ‘cool’.

Cellar Door is now going to be spelled & pronounced = Celador

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the show… Celador Jones!?

Of course, if you have a girl, you would probably want to name her… Celadora!

My favorite sound is a word i made up for a class civilization name: Anaqualeture. (an OCK wa lay TOR) I think it sounds graceful and serene

Don’t ask me why, but I’ve always loved “Vehicular Manslaughter”

And I can’t figure out if “Projectile Vomit” is Beautiful or Gross, but I like itXD

I love spelling “Egypt” and hate spelling “Awkward”.
My daughter’s name is Kiirin(‘KEY-rin), I love what Nic said about Celador for a boy’s name, it sounds so good! I would want to name a boy Jame, instead of James, so you only have to say “that’s Jame’s toy” not “that’s James’s’s’s’s’s’s toy.”

I love the word starlit! Also world, lyrical, violet, emerald, golden, light, bright, brilliant, silent, sword, mist, tree, water, bubble, eyes, poignant, tragic, volatile, the names Arthur and Melehan, idylls, and some weird ones like perchance, durst, trow, wist and mayhap. ^.~

…cosmic, elixir, magicks, dragon, coin, shining…

The words that ease my burdens are: LORD, GOD, and JESUS CHRIST

My offering is the word ‘mellifluous’ – it sounds to my ear exactly what it means;
I feel I want to wave my arm gently as I say it. It conjures up words like ‘mellow, honey, fluid, and flowing. AND……it just happens to mean (of a voice or words)
sweet or musical; pleasant to hear, voila!

Lavender — I can’t look through all ,the entries but am surprised not to see in the couple hundred I did look through.

Also – sussuration

I’ve read about 300 of these comments, and I have a list of 60 intriguing words that I would like to know the meaning of. I started this list after about 150 comments. Also, there were only 5 COMPLETELY hateful comments out of the ones I read! I got a great feeling from reading this.

As for the word? The first word that popped into my mind was “colloquial”. I dismissed that, however, because it reminds me too much of a dingy village in the time of the American Revolution. Speaking of dingy, I like that word a lot. It’s not very beautiful, but it’s a fun word.

I know MANY people have said this already, but I love the word “mellifluous”. It has a beautiful ring to it. Although the meaning is bad, “delinquent” is a beautiful word.

I have found that a lot of these beautiful words are ones whose definitions I do not know. I believe that makes the word even more beautiful and alluring. It peaks your curiosity without letting it overpower the beauty.

My final answer to this magnificent question is not a word, per se. It is a simple punctuation mark–”.” A period is a real thing of beauty. It can finish the open and open the closed. The word “period” has a bit of negative connotation (i.e. women’s hygiene), but the mark is wonderful. Everything ends with this mark, whether alone, on the top of a comma, or below a curve or straight line (? and !) to express extreme emotions. Periods can trail a sentence off into oblivion, usually when the author is becoming lost in thought… Periods are amazing! Why do some people not like periods? All of these are magical uses of a magical “word”.

Ever since i was a kid, i loved saying “Fresh Fish!” I’d say it all day and i still love it!
I also loooved the sound of Orange Oranges. very refreshing:)

Silence, is the coolest and the hottest word on the planet

@ M
this is an online dictionary… if the meaning of a word escapes you, look it up!!!

When I read words and phrases, I hear them. And when I hear them, I live them. In the case of “Cellar door”, cold brick walls surround me and I look despondently through the darkness towards a cellar door. I can approach the door and attempt to push it open, but it’s locked. I beat on it and ask if anyone is on the other side. The door unlocks and opens and a man in armor is there. He shouts “None of that! you hear me?” and pushes me down the steps, closes the door and locks it.

‘Despondent’ is my favorite. It may not trigger any reactions phonaesthetically, but I believe the idea transcends beauty in it’s own way.

Valhalla.
It has fluid alliteration that flows from the tongue, conjures clean winds, bright colors and an abundance of breathtaking nature.

blasé

I’m totally surprised no one has mentioned my personal favorite: gossamer.

This article confuses me. “Cellador”, or “cellar door” if you wish, is not the most pleasing sound. And this suggestion was not claimed by anyone, by the way, as the article suggests, but rather was given as an opinion.

I love ’sisyphean’. It’s used to describe an endless, unyielding labour.

Enjoyed the varied choices, but disagree with cellar door. It is difficult to choose a favorite in English. I love the English language, but the sound of almost anything in Spanish and French seems more readily appealing to me. I was rather startled to find that, as a professing Christian I had never really sounded out the words Jesus Christ until I stumbled on the etymology of Xmas on this site (x stands for Christ) while contemplating this question. What ensued was a startling revelation that there is indeed “power” and beauty in the name. Even after having long actively avoided actually speaking the name because of it’s gauche connotations in the secular world, I rarely said it out loud. Indulge me and just try to deliberately enunciate the words Jesus Christ feel and hear the sound and the effort it takes to msske it. You may notice the plaintive catch-in- your-throat angst of the first word and the inexorable breathy relief of the last. This is not a pretty word but there is an awesome transformative power in the name..of course it sounds even better to me in French or Spanish.Though blasphemous, the word Jesus sounds absolutely hilarious in the exasperated pronouncement “Cheee-sus!” I thought the sweetest two words in the English language were when my mother, in cute Spanish-accented English sighed, monts before her death, ruefully as if to some unseen confessor, “Only Chee-ses” Sometimes two words are worth a million rosaries.

Personally, I enjoy the sound of “cellar door,” but alas, my mind is prejudiced against it due to negative connotations.
I would say that “silver,” “splendor” “vicarious,” and “heroic” are my favourite words pertaining to sound.

Silver, silence, miraculous, ink,
wordless, ice, lace, time,
freeze, starlit, jump, leap,
ring, moonbeam, fly, shine.

… Somehow they ended up rhyming. I think words sound best strung together.

I shall provide a word that is in it’s self so attractive to me that it has pervaded my speech for nigh on a lifetime! Is not the word “Beautiful” it’s own epitome? Perhaps your gazes are selecting their courses with too great a discretion? be more open to the plethora of possibilities. Turn your sites home, and for all your familiarity, you may yet be astonished! Please forgive my altitudinous vocabulary, amongst which exclusively here there was a factitious English word to which spell check could not so much as assent to the validity of its existence! I am, however disagreeable with the concept on the crude and unrefined dialects that now present themselves within the English vernacular. I shall now entertain you with the challenge of ascertaining the word to which the spell check could find no familiarity

Well, duh. Tolkien was British and doesn’t pronounce the Rs in those words. you leave the rhotic out, and you’ve removed what makes the word sound horrible.

And as I said in the other topic, the majority of English speakers have a rhotic accent, so declaring a word that is only pretty in a non-rhotic accent as the most beautiful, is ridiculous.

As what does “the most beautiful words in English” mean but the words that the majority of English-speaking people declare to be so? Who are these experts who can’t even be bothered to do basic research? Hint: if, as you state, the majority of people would be incredulous at the declaration, then it can’t be the most beautiful word.

As you stated, serendipity would get a lot more votes, and thus actually is a contender.

so many words…so little time….but one of my favorites is the word “soothe”…not only because of the pleasant thoughts it evokes but phonetically it slips so smoothly off the tongue and lands so softly on the ear…lets just say its really soothing
My least favorite words (although they are not really accepted as standard English I find they are used commonly and by people who should know better like radio announcers,DJs,politicians etc…) CONVERSATE and IRREGARDLESS

If we are talking about sound and not meaning then it seems a touch arrogant to think that the most beautiful phrase would be in english. What is wrong with the Zulu word hlupekha (to worry) or the Italian consapevole (conscious of)? Or what about the Leonard Cohen favourite, Hallelujah?

What about “What are the CUTEST words?” I think the word turtle is really cute.

What about phases? My favouriute words are serendipity, mellifluous, and loquacious and I have another which I think hasn’t yet been mentioned. Close your eyes. Speak soft like your exhailing a breath and whisper elat. Eee-claaah. Otherwise it sounds to sharp and shiny. But if you do it this way you can make it wound soft and sweet. Try it

just a quick one….i love words like sexy,elegant,shenanigans,scalawag,nitendo,paparazzi and razmatazz

The word everyone likes to hear is ones own name, so they tell me. However, I most love to hear my girl-friend’s name, Michelle (ma belle) ♫ because it is mellifluous. Also, Milan, my daughter’s name is like that–filled with charm. And, if I ever buy a yacht I will name it The Mississippi–such a pretty name, and even spelling it is a pleasure, isn’t it so?

And yes, I saw one contributor with the name Michelle… a lucky girl. ♥

I myself like beautiful words that can be adjective, … like what? lullaby in lullaby tune.

I read the whole thread. No one mentioned the words borrowed from the Indian subcontinant i.e. Jungle, Thug (both from urdu) and Khaki (Persian word picked up by Urdu and then English litterally meaning the color of clay, ground, earth from the origional Persian word “Khak”)

Khaki is the word my younger bro called me – it sounds fun, thanks for describing the origin of Khaki.
Sensual is another beautiful word- the sound of it echos much of
what we are discussing in terms of sensing a word.

So difficult to separate the sound/look of a word with its meaning and associations.

A few of my favourites: tumbledown, lullaby, bubble.

I agree, cellar door is strangely satisfying to say out loud!

Ahh yes, and I think AMUCK is one of the most fun words to say!

Isn’t it funny how some favorite or beautiful-sounding words are based on the definition? I mean, most of all these words have a nice meaning behind it. Or at least something that’s not bad or gross or anything.
Cellar door is rather a unique sound. Without the definition, the word is beautiful. Think about it. Say it in a whisper or a hushed voice, a bit slowly, with the end of the word kind of trailing off. Don’t think about rickety, old doors leading up to a cellar, just think of the way it sounds. Rather pleasing, huh? Or, it feels as is you’re serene. Cellar door…………..

my favourites (regardless of meaning):

plight, kenspeckle, shard, oblique, glass, orchard, water, luminous, liminal, touch, pith, dandelion, coil

[...] title of this post is in reference to linguists believing that cellar door is the most  euphonious phrase in the English language and the general public disagreeing and [...]

muje pine ka shok nahi,pita ho gham bolani.

مردم بايد شراب بخورند .اما چرس نكشند.

I’m surprised some of these have not been mentioned, particularly Viola, unless I missed it above. My favorites:
Amber
Andromeda
Ascension
Bolero
Ecstasy
Europa
Harmony
Heaven
Listen
Serenity
Siberia
Shaman
Solar
Viola – best word

How about those of us who once — or continue — to have a speech disorder? As a child, ‘L’ was difficult for me to pronounce if it was in the middle or the end of a word. Example: ‘hold’ or ‘coal.’ Even today, occasionally I will say, ‘it’s so code (sic) outside!’ I mean to say ‘cold,’ but unconsciously I drop the ‘L’ so ‘cold’ sounds like ‘code.’

Given my history, ‘cellar door’ would NOT be a phrase I find attractive. In fact, I am likely to avoid using it simply from habit. Although incorrect, I would probably use ‘basement’ instead of ‘cellar.’

all about the Vs
like vivacious. words you can really bite into, you know?
even vile.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv.
mmm.

No wonder why shakespeare had to invent so many words.

Pensacola

Savannah

Eldorado

mine is serenity .

https://www.facebook.com/newme.sharina?ref=tn_tnmn

We had to write poems for our AP American Lit class a few weeks ago, and my teacher loved my friend’s just because she had the word “arpeggio” in it. She was even chosen to participate in a poetry reading…

My favorites would have to be “munificence” and “cerulean.” They just sound so elegant and serene.

What the hell? Words aren’t beautiful. They’re a burden.

Luscious, succulent, velvet, voluptuous (Italian “volupte”), voluminous, sensual, captivating, mesmerizing, ravishing, mysterious, superfluous, serenity, delicious, loquacious, lullaby, beautiful, gorgeous, honeysuckle, muscadine, scarlet, fortuitous, purple, obsequiously, syncopation, supple…imagine saying these words with a Scarlett O’Hara style accent…it’s the in dark chocolate and champagne of phonetics…thus, the French/Italian influence…

My top 3 words are

Serendipity, Lullaby & Rose

They’re simply beautiful -
their sound and meaning!

Cellar door…yes, it sounds nice, but there are many better words out there, IMO.

Seredipity
Soliloquy
Epiphany
Acceleration
Tsunami
Solubility
Benevolent

Plethora
Silhouette

Lots of words are quite wonderful, but two that I have always liked are “fresh” and “crisp.” No idea why.

I love the words:
Andante (the tempo of normal; walking pace)
Serene (Just sounds pretty)
Melancholy (I just like it)
Indifference (this sounds nice to me, contrary to it’s meaning)

I also love the word Ecstasy! It’s fun to say!

i don’t know if it’s been mentioned already, but i know it hasn’t been said enough in this thread: thistle. it is the most beautiful word in the language to me, and i think it is one of, if not the, only nouns that actually sound like what they are. try it-picture a thistle, then say the word. it fits. other words, that aren’t s that sound like what they are, selon moi, are: puncture, crack (is that an onomatopoeia?), sift, and flow.

i like;
twinkle
mellifluous
heat
grace
rainbow
lavender

i also like the names Noelle, Elijah, Hazel and Blair ._.

personally, i love grace because it’s one of my best friends names

ooh, and i love celladora

cellar door. he definitely got it right. i dont know about you but i like the imagery.

Coined by a band (Queensryche) though I wish I could claim it, is such a beautiful song title that I think it stands above cellar door. It is…Silent Lucidity

allure. it echoes serenely.

I like it as a name, ‘cellodora’ but wouldn’t have chosen it as my favourite…
I like pebbles, lucid, melliofluous, anonymous, collaberation

I always thought “aesthetically” was a nice-sounding word. As is “oasis” and “juxtapose”. I also really like “defenestrate”.

Celadon!

I think Tolkien was on to something; I’ve always been enamored by the word “celadon”. It sounds almost exactly like “cellar door”, but sounds good even in rhotic accents. It also has the added benefit of having a non-offensive meaning. Celadon is a pale grey-green color, or a porcelain with that color of glaze.

My favorite word is “companion” because it’s the right shade of blue denim jeans, soft and warm from the dryer that fit me “just so”.

Benign ,introvert, dolt

i think the most beautiful word in English is music. i mean it just sounds good. think about it
MUSIC~!
or maybe pasta

1) Putrefaction
2) Potpourri
3) Eigengrau
4) Mamihlapinatapai
5) Brouhaha
6) Phantasmagorie

A few of these aren’t English but oh well These are a few of my faves.

Please, I beg of you all, do not name your daughters Celladora, for the love of everything good and true. It’s the most ridiculous fairytale nonsense name I’ve ever heard and no child should be burdened with it. It would be like naming your child Belladonna, which is poisonous. Cellar door is fine the way it is, thank you very much.

Labyrinth

I think Tolkien was segregating the word from the meaning. After a while it becomes reminiscent of the french “ce la vie”…

Nice,but i want most beautiful word for my account password

My favorite word is definitely ‘autumn’. I just love the way it sounds and how it feels on my tongue. Even written, it feels like a beautiful word. I also like the way ‘grace’, ‘oasis’, and ‘quake’ (in that order) feel.
And, honestly, although ‘cellar door’ does sound pretty nice, I would never think of it as something more than a slightly-above-average sounding phrase. Though ‘Celladora’ is a beautiful name…

Oh! And how could I forget these: ‘dove’, ‘abyss’, and ‘echo’. Definitely echo.

Silt, resting in a river. The image stays with me…

My personal favorite is Sibilation. I was rifling through an old thesaurus and I came upon that word and instantly loved it.

Talent, neon, encore, tuxedo, death, kissing, moon, transmission, nightmare, joke, babble, video, haunt, visage, tape, nothing, box, sex, mirror, dance, electricity, bank, yellow, hysterical, record, octopus, honey, blood, telephone, television, image, vague, static. To name a few. My favorite word of all might be boy.

syzygy

Cellar door? To excel adore.

Same sounds, different words/meanings. Does it make a difference? It brought to my mind:

Excalibur – shining swords and armour and chivalry

I think there may be whole domains of feeling that we each associate with different words, languages and different experiences. So much depends on our culture which means our upbringing, influences, education, reading, a heritage of singing, stories or poetic culture and so on. So words and their sounds conjure up different feelings and associations for all of us.

Excalibur made me think of
Roman (Hollow Hills, Crystal Cave?)
Greek – that euphonic language: chrysanthemon
Phoenix – nice piquant word
Phoenician – Asterix comics
Aztec – reds and oranges and brrr! nastiness (only less malign than that of their conquerors, perhaps).

English speakers sometimes say they dislike the guttural sounds of German but if you see a beautiful attractive German person saying nice things in a gentle manner with a radiant smile, German is as lovely, interesting, quirky and cute — in its own way — as any language. Unter den Linden. Feuer-zangen-bolle. Gluwein. Lilly Marlene. Apfel. Auf Wiedersehen. (And English is about 60% German (Anglo-Saxon).

I heard a Papuan lady sing the song Tanah Papua recently. The sounds of Indonesian are probably nothing like as beautiful to an English speaker’s ears and mind as Romance languages and Greek but her heartfelt rendition brought tears to my eyes. I could hear it over and over. We inherit tastes and attribute meaning and beauty to sounds, words, tones and rhythms and we can constantly expand our tastes and re-mould our conditioning if we wish. In English language, if you wish to excel adore other languages too. Salut salam shalom.

all the nice words have been said but i would say the word kiss is my best mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…………….sounds good

Belladonna is my personal favorite. It may be a poisonous plant, but it sounds so pretty!

I love tumescence…

I like the sound, and as a male, I like the effect.

Golden Sky

Words: Deciduous, avalanche, kinetic, pacific, felicity, agrarian, bucolic

Phrases: crisply fallen, abyssal shore, myriad wandering, sulfuric milieu

I love the word requiem

ENCHANTED
A word that is beautiful, simple, and magical! I have this word tattooed on me:) love it!!

In like the sound of the word “Insidious”

Working in the graphics industry i get to try words that are technology driven but quite nice to say…

Some ’soft sounding’
3D terms

Ambient Occlusion,
Diffusion
Decay
Shading
Chamfer
Alpha Channel
Bezier
Lathe
Trace
Gaussian
RealFlow
Null
Global Illumination

‘Crunchy’ Words

Volumetric
Specular (Highlights)
Bumpmap
Crop
Translucent
Opaque
Click

Just Fun

Glyph
Undo
Raster
Warp
Lettercase
kerning
leading
Zoom
Align
subsurface scattering
thinking particles

SO NERDY I KNOW!!
chortle!!!!!

It would have to start with S: how about sashay? But my favorite word to say is smooch because you are perfectly puckered for one by the end!!!

Ethereal
Blush
Apothecary
Brook
Babble
Incandescent
Harmony
Blossom
Frost
Bittersweet
Ramble
Iridescent
Iris

Freedom
Destiny

For me I like the words “balderdash” and “ghoti”

The MEANING of my favorite word is not beautiful at all, but I always liked the sound of the word ‘Malevolent’…
and I like the word ‘Beauty’ itself.

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the cellar door —-> terms of phonaesthetics

euphonic -> sound combination .

cacophony of words without regards for sematics voice sound and aesthetics.

cell of llular of , sound combination are like not in A to Z it is like a’ b’ c’ prnouncation un specific taste of sound .. and taste of combination … un less

beautiful ….. b’ eau’ t_ i ‘ ful… imagination of awesome word …. that is the heavenly word of se see’ x and love in this universe .. that is secreate of eaccc
ear could hear in this world … eyes cant see with more beauty .. thats limitation ..of earth and terms of manipulation .. its being in illuminat eye .

My favorite word is panacea. And it has an awesome meaning to boot.

I like “negligent,” “malignant,” “malevolent,” “benevolent.”

My absolute favourite English word is ‘Decadence’ which means to decline and deteriorate. In Latin it would have to be ‘Lacrimosa’ which means weeping and in Japanese ‘Akuma’ which means demon.

I’ve just noticed that if you say them one after the other, they all have that soft ‘click’ sound that your tongue makes over the ‘c’.

I love the word ‘eloquent’. It sounds just as it means – eloquent.

colloquialism

moody alabaster aurora candymilk wash yummy

destined, articulate, delirious, melancholy, prestigious, pronounced, construe, conducive, pristine, ludicrous.. are just a few of my favourite English words. I also like the sharp or soft ‘click’ sound of the ‘c’ in many words pronounced in british English.

I read all the comments—enjoyed those about word sounds and connotations, hated the religious proselytizing and lazy misspellings; c’mon people, in a comment about your favorite words is it too much to ask that you heed the little, red, wavy line before you hit send? What follows are words culled from previous posts, supplemented by others I thought of—mostly euphonic, though occasionally personal connotations, or “fun-to-say” factored in. Enjoy! colloquialism, muffin, eloquent, elegant, benevolent, insidious, requiem, bubble, autumn, pebbles, lucid, mellifluous, allure, puncture, silhouette, tsunami, (one beauty of English is that we can just steal words…), luscious, succulent, velvet, voluptuous, voluminous, sensual, mesmerizing, superfluous, serenity, loquacious, gorgeous, fortuitous, purple, obsequious, supple, lithe, penultimate, oblique, shaman, pithy, subliminal, soothing, gentle, caress, incredulous, serendipity, silence, moonbeam, poignant, emerald, lyrical, noodles, tranquility, nincompoop, idiosyncrasies, bundle, lush, effervescent, lyric, lucid, parallelogram, ladle, puddle, befuddled, jalopy, antiquity, melodious, svelte, penguin, juxtaposition, sushi, massage, gazebo, bulbous, lollipop, lackadaisical, portly, magnanimity, ubiquitous, dilapidated, windswept, ennui, crestfallen, malicious, peach, lagoon, bamboozle, esoteric, demure, acquiescence, nipple, liquid, sphere, askew, avuncular, inundate, picturesque, persnickety, articulate, melancholy, pristine, chocolate, lasagna, mesmerize, savage, exquisite, crunch, Lilliputian, Liverpudlian, shenanigans, rutabaga, crisp, meticulous, ragamuffin, buffoon, whisper, perpendicular, paraphernalia, flabbergasted, languorous.

I think the ugliest sound is the American “a,” as in “hat,”

Fun combinations “rural juror” “Reckless Abandon,” “blissful oblivion,” “flannel animal.” “Pensive citadels”

Remove the meaning from “mother”. I like how it sounds. And “Shangri-la”.

I like ‘translucent’. It give me almost a feather light feeling. It also has a quite dynamic feel, like it’s shifting and moving. ‘flammable’ is also nice.

cellar door didn’t seem very pleasing to my ears but I don’t know why but
I love the word smooch e.g. I smooched some butterfingers.

Nincompoop, of course. And pretty much all epithets Bertie Wooster’s aunt Agatha uses about him.

chantily, chantily lace. champagne?

Whilst cellar door does sound rather Charles Aznavour. I think:

cupboard love

when spoken slowly has three even beats and ends on a long note, like cellar door, but has the additional meaning. It reminds me of a beautiful cat caressing my legs just before feeding (albeit obtuse love because they are so independent at other times !)

I’ve always loved the sound of these combination of words: flooded woods, valley of the kings, and now, cellar door! Thank you for a new favorite.

Babylon would be my choice . BABYLON . BEBELONNNNN !

Plethora, serendipity, serum, presto, menthol, mauve, etc.

Chestnut

It is a nut and in a sense it is that nut in your chest that sometimes makes you do crazy things. It sounds funny, brings out the squirrels and it tastes and smells pretty good too. I think it is a very complete word with many references to and fro.

Cellar door does nothing for me!

My son’s favorite word is falcon.t

When I was little I loved the sound of “Massachusetts Understanding”, which words came together in a history book my older brother was reading to my mother. For a long time I wanted Massachusetts Understanding to be my middle name!

this is how it goes….

my boyfriend says the word “CELLAR DOOR” slowly near to my ear and its like forevers not enough for the both of us…

Nostalgic/nostalgia.

It makes me feel so bitter sweet when I think of that word… It’s my treasure word, truly special.

“Mellifluous”

Every time I see this word in print, I imagine it as spoken by James Earl Jones. This is the perfect storm of meaning and aesthetics.

Hey how is it possible that one of the words used in this article does not appear in this dictionary? The word is: Phonaesthetic.

English is my second language, so even though I understand the meaning of “Phonaesthetics” because of this article, I was interested in knowing how to pronounce it. But.. surprise! dictionary.reference.com tells me that there are “no dictionary results” for that word D:

“Axiomatic” (Axe-xi-yem-matic)
Meaning self explanatory, clearly obvious.

acquiesce

I find “basement door” far more euphonious than “cellar door.” “Basement” starts on the lips, while “door” ends almost in the throat; together, they flow from front of the mouth to the back.

Vampavarmathonaplingdeon.

I agree with the notion of being biased because the knowledge of the definition is in my head. To me “cellar door” doesn’t sound pretty at all.

doppelganger. great word

‘Scintilla’ is an awesome word. I notice that words with the letters ‘S’ and ‘L’ in them tend to sound euphonic.

Chiropodist which I first heard in a cartoon. We don’t have them in the U.S.

Euphoria

I also like the word ’shenanigans’.

Even though it has the worst connotation ever, the word suicide is fun to say and rolls off the tongue.

I like hubris and nostalgia

-Polyamorous
-Inevitable
-Indubitably
-Delicious

; )

lithium is very pretty.

Equilibrium.

^ I love how it so effortlessly escapes my mouth.

Plated tail
Sandwich clamp
Upholstery nail

Y’all, unfortunately, are all wrong.

The best word is sheeps.

I know it’s not grammatically correct but it’s ridiculously fun to say.

I have always loved the words insouciant- butterfly, Shenandoah…

I love the sound of cellar door, the more I say it the less it means! Other words I love are, starshine, syzygy and mellifluous, and my own name in a whisper!

helloo i like people : )

What’s also pretty cool is “crescendo.”
It’s neat because the volume swells in the middle, just like the meaning of the word.

Resplendence. And as a bonus, the connotation is great too.

I love veal and ruthless. They sound so, interesting!

I like veal and faery. Technically faery isn’t a word, but i read it somewhere