Most Beautiful Words In The English Language (PHOTOS)

In his essay "English and Welsh," J.R.R. Tolkien claimed that "cellar door" was the most beautiful word, as its sound is simply and intrinsically pleasing.

After asking for the words that disgusted you, we couldn't help but wonder: what words do you find the most beautiful?

We asked our readers on Facebook and Twitter, and here are some of the results!

What word do YOU think is the most beautiful? Let us know in the comments!

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Qudsia00 said on 10 Wednesday 2011 am31 7:24 am: I've always liked the sound of "savannah."

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This Word

Rank #2  |  Average: 4

Ugh! I hate this word! Truly exquisite!

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Comments

[Maria010]

09:04 PM on 09/23/2011

Last April I actually started The Favorite Words Project. We collect people's favorite words and publish them on bumper stickers and t-shirts as a living art installation. My favorite is espionage. Check us out if you're interested.

[Thisbeautifulplanet]

03:07 PM on 09/07/2011

"Love", "beloved" and "he" make my pulse race. Guess why...

[featherives]

11:46 PM on 08/28/2011

Queer is a beautiful word.

[Howard Latchford]

11:55 AM on 08/28/2011

Chlorine, that is, its pronunciation, reveals a linguistic problem that needs fixing. In the Group 7 elements, the halogens, the one at the top is fluorine, then chlorine, then bromine, then iodine, then astatine, etc.

The linguistic problem is that in America we call iodine "iodyne" which does not comport well with any of the other halogens, all of which have an "een" sound at their ending. A few American regional "accents" call iodine "iodeen," which seems correct. In Britain the "-een" ending is about all you will hear. Maybe we Americans need to fix this.

[Joy Rosenberg]

08:07 AM on 08/28/2011

"Chevrolet" has a lovely way of rolling off the tongue.

[lily31]

08:59 PM on 08/26/2011

I love the sound of "rendezvous" is lovely even if not given the full French treatment!

[Aaron Calhoun]

06:50 PM on 08/26/2011

Is it just me, or is "stunning" WAY overused....like "incredible", "amazing", "extraordinary", "unbelievable", "mind-blowing", "awesome", etc...they've become vacuous words that may as well all mean "neat" or "cool".

If you dig where I'm comin' from and haven't read it already, check out George Orwell's "Politics and the English Language"....it's a short essay about the evolution (or devolution) of English as a "living language" in an increasingly communicative but less descriptive world.

[Zola the Cat]

06:40 PM on 08/26/2011

I was told years ago that the 2 most lovely words were: cellar door If you say it a few times, it really does give some kinda strange pleasure!

[Aaron Calhoun]

06:38 PM on 08/26/2011

I have to hand it to the folks who compiled this list....while indubitably eclectic, some of these choices are rather ostentatious....seeming to obfuscate the seminal substantive issue, which is that the transcendence of a word from unremarkable utterance to sublime susurration is an unequivocally furtive fancy which inevitably involves abstruse sentimentality.

My favorite words (not necessarily all of the above) are those which offer more specific or contextually precise meanings....not that I necessarily utilized such offerings in this post, as I was more having fun than trying to be precise....but yeah, words can be quite playful, especially when employing alliteration, even if overdone! Love 'em! :)

[chieromancer]

03:14 PM on 08/26/2011

What about "murmur?"

Some years ago some group decided murmur was the most beautiful-sounding word in the English language.

[onemoretime2]

09:29 AM on 08/26/2011

some of my favorites: evanescence, serendipity, diaphanous, voluptuous, ineffable, elucidate

[lily31]

09:02 PM on 08/26/2011

oh yes, evanescence and diaphanous !! Nice.

[Howard Latchford]

11:58 AM on 08/28/2011

Then there is gossamer.

[Robert Saenz]

01:29 AM on 08/26/2011

kaleidoscope

[pangrail]

11:18 PM on 08/25/2011

Any ornithologist will tell you there's no such animal as "seagull". There are many species of gulls, e. g. "laughing gull", "herring gull", but no "seagull".

[deserthues]

08:28 PM on 08/25/2011

I'm gonna cheat and add some favorite Mesoamerican words: Acapulco, Xochimilco, Teotihuacan. And Chihuahua!

[Zola the Cat]

06:41 PM on 08/26/2011

When I lived in El Salvador there was a town named Zacatecoluca - say that fast 5 times, it's awesome!

[deserthues]

08:07 PM on 08/25/2011

Azure