"That's a great deal to make one word mean," Alice said in a thoughtful tone. "When I make a word do a lot of work like that," said Humpty Dumpty, "I always pay it extra."

Sunday 29 March 2009

Mellifluous



Mellifluous (muh-LIF-loo-uhs) literally means flowing like honey but its modern meaning is sweet-sounding, dulcet, pleasing to the ear. The word is usually used of a person's voice, a musical instrument or bird song.


It is rarely used in relation to jack-hammers, bin lorries, or football crowds!

3 comments:

  1. "Mellifluous" was one of the five words I picked when it was my turn to choose the week's spelling assignment in the eighth grade. The other four were equally obscure.

    Needless to say, the teacher started picking the words herself the next week.

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  2. oh wow, this is one of my favourite words, l use it when ever l can..usually to tell a blogger his/her words are wonderful and melifluous!

    fff x

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  3. I'd never heard the word before, but I really like it.

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