mellifluous

adjective

mel·lif·lu·ous me-ˈli-flə-wəs How to pronounce mellifluous (audio)

mə-

: having a smooth rich flow

a mellifluous voice

: filled with something (such as honey) that sweetens

mellifluous confections

mellifluously adverb

mellifluousness noun

Did you know?

Use Mellifluous to Describe Your Dinner Date

In Latin, mel means "honey" and fluere means "to flow." Those two linguistic components flow smoothly together in mellifluus (from Late Latin) and mellyfluous (from Middle English), the ancestors of mellifluous. The adjective these days typically applies to sound, as it has for centuries. In 1671, for example, poet John Milton wrote in Paradise Regained of the "Wisest of men; from whose mouth issu'd forth Mellifluous streams." But mellifluous can also be used of flavor, as when wine critics Eric Asimov and Florence Fabricant used it to describe pinot grigio in the 2014 book Wine With Food: "Most pinot grigios give many people exactly what they want: a mellifluous, easy-to-pronounce wine that can be ordered without fear of embarrassment and that is at the least cold, refreshing, and for the most part cheap."

Example Sentences

a rich, mellifluous voice that gets her a lot of work in radio and TV commercials

Recent Examples on the Web Perhaps the vocal contrast between the mellifluous Lowe, 73, and the hit-and-miss Costello, 68, would have been too pronounced?

George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 Sep. 2022 The mysterious, mellifluous Father John Misty warbles for an hour from 8:25 to 9:25 p.m. on the Sunset Stage.

Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 29 Aug. 2022 Vin Scully, the gentlemanly, yarn-spinning play-by-play man whose mellifluous voice provided the soundtrack to Dodger baseball from Brooklyn to Los Angeles for a jaw-dropping 67 seasons, has died.

Mike Barnes, The Hollywood Reporter, 2 Aug. 2022 No chuckling, no mellifluous lilt, no warm commentary, just terse syllables that dropped like pellets from her tongue: a hundred and seventy-three thousand dollars.

Eleni Schirmer, The New Yorker, 27 July 2022 Over the next several years, Albrecht’s mellifluous word seemed to tap into a kind of angst about life on a warming planet.

Madeline Ostrander, The Atlantic, 23 July 2022 Bublé, the king of standards with his distinctly mellifluous voice, has also spent the past two decades assiduously creating stage shows that build an escape and sense of wonder.

Rodney Ho, ajc, 22 July 2022 Richard is assailed by doubt and guilt; his mellifluous language disintegrates into shards, reflecting a psyche breaking under the strain of the bloody trail behind him.

Charles Isherwood, WSJ, 11 July 2022 The through line for these seemingly disparate selections is his buoyant and mellifluous voice, capable of roping any and all material into the realm of genuine romance.

New York Times, 16 Mar. 2022 See More

单词	mellifluous
释义	mellifluous adjective mel·lif·lu·ous me-ˈli-flə-wəs mə- 1 : having a smooth rich flow a mellifluous voice 2 : filled with something (such as honey) that sweetens mellifluous confections mellifluously adverb mellifluousness noun Did you know? Use Mellifluous to Describe Your Dinner Date In Latin, mel means "honey" and fluere means "to flow." Those two linguistic components flow smoothly together in mellifluus (from Late Latin) and mellyfluous (from Middle English), the ancestors of mellifluous. The adjective these days typically applies to sound, as it has for centuries. In 1671, for example, poet John Milton wrote in Paradise Regained of the "Wisest of men; from whose mouth issu'd forth Mellifluous streams." But mellifluous can also be used of flavor, as when wine critics Eric Asimov and Florence Fabricant used it to describe pinot grigio in the 2014 book Wine With Food: "Most pinot grigios give many people exactly what they want: a mellifluous, easy-to-pronounce wine that can be ordered without fear of embarrassment and that is at the least cold, refreshing, and for the most part cheap." Synonyms euphonious lyric lyrical mellifluent mellow melodic melodious musical See all Synonyms & Antonyms Example Sentences a rich, mellifluous voice that gets her a lot of work in radio and TV commercials Recent Examples on the Web Perhaps the vocal contrast between the mellifluous Lowe, 73, and the hit-and-miss Costello, 68, would have been too pronounced? George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 Sep. 2022 The mysterious, mellifluous Father John Misty warbles for an hour from 8:25 to 9:25 p.m. on the Sunset Stage. Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 29 Aug. 2022 Vin Scully, the gentlemanly, yarn-spinning play-by-play man whose mellifluous voice provided the soundtrack to Dodger baseball from Brooklyn to Los Angeles for a jaw-dropping 67 seasons, has died. Mike Barnes, The Hollywood Reporter, 2 Aug. 2022 No chuckling, no mellifluous lilt, no warm commentary, just terse syllables that dropped like pellets from her tongue: a hundred and seventy-three thousand dollars. Eleni Schirmer, The New Yorker, 27 July 2022 Over the next several years, Albrecht’s mellifluous word seemed to tap into a kind of angst about life on a warming planet. Madeline Ostrander, The Atlantic, 23 July 2022 Bublé, the king of standards with his distinctly mellifluous voice, has also spent the past two decades assiduously creating stage shows that build an escape and sense of wonder. Rodney Ho, ajc, 22 July 2022 Richard is assailed by doubt and guilt; his mellifluous language disintegrates into shards, reflecting a psyche breaking under the strain of the bloody trail behind him. Charles Isherwood, WSJ, 11 July 2022 The through line for these seemingly disparate selections is his buoyant and mellifluous voice, capable of roping any and all material into the realm of genuine romance. New York Times, 16 Mar. 2022 See More Word History Etymology Middle English mellyfluous, from Late Latin mellifluus, from Latin mell-, mel honey + fluere to flow; akin to Goth milith honey, Greek melit-, meli First Known Use 15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1 mellifluous adjective as in melodic having a pleasantly flowing quality suggestive of music a rich, mellifluous voice that gets her a lot of work in radio and TV commercials Synonyms & Similar Words Relevance melodic lyrical lyric melodious mellifluent euphonious musical dulcet mellow sweet golden Antonyms & Near Antonyms strident harsh dissonant disconnected unmusical staccato inharmonious jarring discordant unmelodious grating unlyrical See More
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mellifluous

adjective

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Synonyms

Example Sentences

Word History

adjective