The 100 Most Beautiful Words in English
Ailurophile A cat-lover.
Assemblage A gathering.
Becoming Attractive.
Beleaguer To exhaust with attacks.
Brood To think alone.
Bucolic In a lovely rural setting.
Bungalow A small, cozy cottage.
Chatoyant Like a cat’s eye.
Comely Attractive.
Conflate To blend together.
Cynosure A focal point of admiration.
Dalliance A brief love affair.
Demesne Dominion, territory.
Demure Shy and reserved.
Denouement The resolution of a mystery.
Desuetude Disuse.
Desultory Slow, sluggish.
Diaphanous Filmy.
Dissemble Deceive.
Dulcet Sweet, sugary.
Ebullience Bubbling enthusiasm.
Effervescent Bubbly.
Efflorescence Flowering, blooming.
Elision Dropping a sound or syllable in a word.
Elixir A good potion.
Eloquence Beauty and persuasion in speech.
Embrocation Rubbing on a lotion.
Emollient A softener.
Ephemeral Short-lived.
Epiphany A sudden revelation.
Erstwhile At one time, for a time.
Ethereal Gaseous, invisible but detectable.
Evanescent Vanishing quickly, lasting a very short time.
Evocative Suggestive.
Fetching Pretty.
Felicity Pleasantness.
Forbearance Withholding response to provocation.
Fugacious Fleeting.
Furtive Shifty, sneaky.
Gambol To skip or leap about joyfully.
Glamour Beauty.
Gossamer The finest piece of thread, a spider’s silk.
Halcyon Happy, sunny, care-free.
Harbinger Messenger with news of the future.
Imbrication Overlapping and forming a regular pattern.
Imbroglio An altercation or complicated situation.
Imbue To infuse, instill.
Incipient Beginning, in an early stage.
Ineffable Unutterable, inexpressible.
Ingénue A naïve young woman.
Inglenook A cozy nook by the hearth.
Insouciance Blithe nonchalance.
Inure To become jaded.
Labyrinthine Twisting and turning.
Lagniappe A special kind of gift.
Lagoon A small gulf or inlet.
Languor Listlessness, inactivity.
Lassitude Weariness, listlessness.
Leisure Free time.
Lilt To move musically or lively.
Lissome Slender and graceful.
Lithe Slender and flexible.
Love Deep affection.
Mellifluous Sweet sounding.
Moiety One of two equal parts.
Mondegreen A slip of the ear.
Murmurous Murmuring.
Nemesis An unconquerable archenemy.
Offing The sea between the horizon and the offshore.
Onomatopoeia A word that sounds like its meaning.
Opulent Lush, luxuriant.
Palimpsest A manuscript written over earlier ones.
Panacea A solution for all problems
Panoply A complete set.
Pastiche An art work combining materials from various sources.
Penumbra A half-shadow.
Petrichor The smell of earth after rain.
Plethora A large quantity.
Propinquity An inclination.
Pyrrhic Successful with heavy losses.
Quintessential Most essential.
Ratatouille A spicy French stew.
Ravel To knit or unknit.
Redolent Fragrant.
Riparian By the bank of a stream.
Ripple A very small wave.
Scintilla A spark or very small thing.
Sempiternal Eternal.
Seraglio Rich, luxurious oriental palace or harem.
Serendipity Finding something nice while looking for something else.
Summery Light, delicate or warm and sunny.
Sumptuous Lush, luxurious.
Surreptitious Secretive, sneaky.
Susquehanna A river in Pennsylvania.
Susurrous Whispering, hissing.
Talisman A good luck charm.
Tintinnabulation Tinkling.
Umbrella Protection from sun or rain.
Untoward Unseemly, inappropriate.
Vestigial In trace amounts.
Wafture Waving.
Wherewithal The means.
Woebegone Sorrowful, downcast.(via so much to tell you)
Well, what do you think she feels?
He is staring again. Her hair is thrown over one shoulder, showing the graceful line along her neck. Their eyes catch.
‘There’s been something I’ve been meaning to find out’ he says, his eyes unwaveringly locked with hers.
‘Yeah… what’s that?’ she fidgets as she asks, looking past him.
He moves closer, kneeling in front of her seat, forcing his way back into her view. ‘It’s not something I can ask you. I- I just need you to trust me’ he edges forward as he speaks. Vertigo washes over him, almost as if he was looking over a deathly drop.
‘okay’ she mumbles, dumfounded. Her heart beat was erratic. She doesn’t know if this is what she wants.
He kisses her. Softly at first, but when she kissed back, he pushes on. He holds her close, leaning into her body. Her hand slips to his hair and tangled itself. He feels the heat and electricity create a firestorm between them. It lasts less than a minute, but they are both shaken and panting by the end. He slowly opens his eyes and she is looking back at him curiously. He needs to know what his best friend felt…
Deadlines
My mind murmurs. I roll around, feeling for my phone and getting lost in my own bed. Seeking hands find the cool glassy back. I prepare for what is to come, brightness, my eyes begin watering, in pain. Through the early morning fog I realize it is 8am. That single thought is enough for me to register the light seeping into my comfortable darkness. I’ve only had four hours rest, surely another sleep cycle (at an average of forty five minutes) will be enough to make today bearable. I close my eyes. I am tired.
It’s midday. The light is pervasive now. It illuminates my guilt. Yet another half a day wasted without anything to show for it. I throw the blankets off myself, a vain attempt at self-shock. It’s not that cold. I jump up out of bed and bounce around my room for a few seconds. Surely I just need a kick start, it works somewhat. So I sputter into the kitchen and start the kettle. Coffee in hand I sit, ready to consume my ‘morning’ dose of information. Facebook first and email to see if anyone wanted me over the few hours I slept. I check my bank, knowing nothing is in there. I go to my blog to seek some self-validation, it doesn’t work. I scroll through some other blogs, hoping for some ‘morning’ inspiration. It doesn’t work and I realize I am just wasting more time, it’s already 2pm. Maybe a shower will help. I am pathetic.
Sweet warm nothingness, the water runs over me. I visualize the steps I should be taking today. Housework can be done tomorrow. I really need to do that assignment, it’s three days late. I should eat soon. Right, food, coffee, and then I am going to write it. I WILL get it done today. Ten minutes in the shower is a waste of water, but I’m still there. It takes half an hour to wash, think, dry, dress and make it back to the kitchen. I make my breakfast at 2.30pm, eggs on toast. A bit of coffee to wash it down and I sit back down. Facebook, email, blog and it is 4pm. I am wasteful.
I open Word and stare at the void for a while. I know I have a lot to write, I have been reading so much. I know exactly what I need get across. Maybe if I read some more I will do better. I start skimming articles. To begin with they are on topic, but soon delve into random bits of trivia and interesting ideas. I think of stories I can write, of conversations I can have. Oh but what about this? I end up researching my new ideas. My head is swooning with possibility. I still haven’t started and it is 8pm. Now there is too much in my head, focusing is impossible. I try some meditation techniques I learnt years ago, they work to clear my head but as soon as I stop the cacophony starts again. I put a movie on, that will quell the noise. I am hopeless.
Unfortunately it’s midnight. One movie turned into two and some dinner. Now I am too tired to write coherently. I close the blank Word document and stare at the screen for a while. Maybe if I get a decent sleep I will write it first thing in the morning before class. I get into bed with trepidation. I know where this leads. I lay, thinking. Hours pass as I worry about everything I didn’t get done today. I worry about the building pressure. I worry about if I’ll cope. I worry. Every thought of the day turns dark when the lights are out. It’s about 4am when the morning fog seeps in, blurring the thoughts enough to sleep. I will get up in a few hours. I don’t and then it is time for class. I am failing.
Every thought I have is lie. I must admit this.
Waiting for my bus.
The air feels weighted; thick arduous smog billowing from metal monsters, trapping suns heat in clouds of dark repression. I wonder if they notice, the people shuffling by. Off to work they go, toiling to maintain this brick and mortar existence. Chains and bars unseen. Their iron weight can be felt, only by those who care to feel. Fear not! To break these chains is to escape mediocrity, rise above the clouds and see all that is below, and only those who struggle will see this days rewards.
Permeates
I have been using this word an awful lot lately, in all of my writing and even in conversation. I am not sure why, but I guess this is my word of the moment, Permeates.
