100 Beautiful and Ugly Words
by Mark Nichol
One of the many fascinating features of our language is how often words with pleasant associations are also quite pleasing on the tongue and even to the eye, and how many words, by contrast, acoustically and visually corroborate their disagreeable nature — look no further than the heading for this post.
Enrich the poetry of your prose by applying words that provide precise connotation while also evoking emotional responsesBeautiful Words
- Amorphous: indefinite, shapeless
- Beguile: deceive
- Caprice: impulse
- Cascade: steep waterfall
- Cashmere: fine, delicate wool
- Chrysalis: protective covering
- Cinnamon: an aromatic spice; its soft brown color
- Coalesce: unite, or fuse
- Crepuscular: dim, or twilit
- Crystalline: clear, or sparkling
- Desultory: half-hearted, meandering
- Diaphanous: gauzy
- Dulcet: sweet
- Ebullient: enthusiastic
- Effervescent: bubbly
- Elision: omission
- Enchanted: charmed
- Encompass: surround
- Enrapture: delighted
- Ephemeral: fleeting
- Epiphany: revelation
- Epitome: embodiment of the ideal
- Ethereal: celestial, unworldly, immaterial
- Etiquette: proper conduct
- Evanescent: fleeting
- Evocative: suggestive
- Exuberant: abundant, unrestrained, outsize
- Felicity: happiness, pleasantness
- Filament: thread, strand
- Halcyon: care-free
- Idyllic: contentedly pleasing
- Incorporeal: without form
- Incandescent: glowing, radiant, brilliant, zealous
- Ineffable: indescribable, unspeakable
- Inexorable: relentless
- Insouciance: nonchalance
- Iridescent: luster
- Languid: slow, listless
- Lassitude: fatigue
- Lilt: cheerful or buoyant song or movement
- Lithe: flexible, graceful
- Lullaby: soothing song
- Luminescence: dim chemical or organic light
- Mellifluous: smooth, sweet
- Mist: cloudy moisture, or similar literal or virtual obstacle
- Murmur: soothing sound
- Myriad: great number
- Nebulous: indistinct
- Opulent: ostentatious
- Penumbra: shade, shroud, fringe
- Plethora: abundance
- Quiescent: peaceful
- Quintessential: most purely representative or typical
- Radiant: glowing
- Redolent: aromatic, evocative
- Resonant: echoing, evocative
- Resplendent: shining
- Rhapsodic: intensely emotional
- Sapphire: rich, deep bluish purple
- Scintilla: trace
- Serendipitous: chance
- Serene: peaceful
- Somnolent: drowsy, sleep inducing
- Sonorous: loud, impressive, imposing
- Spherical: ball-like, globular
- Sublime: exalted, transcendent
- Succulent: juicy, tasty, rich
- Suffuse: flushed, full
- Susurration: whispering
- Symphony: harmonious assemblage
- Talisman: charm, magical device
- Tessellated: checkered in pattern
- Tranquility: peacefulness
- Vestige: trace
- Zenith: highest point
Ugly Words
- Cacophony: confused noise
- Cataclysm: flood, catastrophe, upheaval
- Chafe: irritate, abrade
- Coarse: common, crude, rough, harsh
- Cynical: distrustful, self-interested
- Decrepit: worn-out, run-down
- Disgust: aversion, distaste
- Grimace: expression of disgust or pain
- Grotesque: distorted, bizarre
- Harangue: rant
- Hirsute: hairy
- Hoarse: harsh, grating
- Leech: parasite,
- Maladroit: clumsy
- Mediocre: ordinary, of low quality
- Obstreperous: noisy, unruly
- Rancid: offensive, smelly
- Repugnant: distasteful
- Repulsive: disgusting
- Shriek: sharp, screeching sound
- Shrill: high-pitched sound
- Shun: avoid, ostracize
- Slaughter: butcher, carnage
- Unctuous: smug, ingratiating
- Visceral: crude, anatomically graphic
Notice how often attractive words present themselves to define other beautiful ones, and note also how many of them are interrelated, and what kind of sensations, impressions, and emotions they have in common. Also, try enunciating beautiful words as if they were ugly, or vice versa. Are their sounds suggestive of their quality, or does their meaning wholly determine their effect on us?
From Writers Write
This is the final line, in the final book of the Harry Potter series, with the Deathly Hallows symbol forming the A. I tracked down the font used in the first editions and copied that so it would feel more genuine. This symbolises both endings and beginnings for me, and serves as a reminder of the magic of escapist literature.
This is my Harry Potter-inspired tattoo. I grew up reading those books and they will always be a huge part of my life. This tattoo means a lot to me :)
(Source: thievinggenius, via jeanfivintage)
Everything Counts in Large Amounts
illustration by Lisa Currie :: via busybody-lazybones
The view from the top.
photograph by Jeff Simmermon :: via simmermon
(Source: buffysummer, via fuckyeahmarylouise)
Maps
ERNEST STONEMAN & BAND (1927)
