mellifluous
adjective
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Use Mellifluous to Describe Your Dinner Date
Have a bee in your bonnet to learn some mellifluous facts? Sweet—we won’t make you comb for them. Mellifluous comes from two Latin roots: the noun mel, meaning “honey,” and the verb fluere, meaning “to flow.” These linguistic components flowed smoothly together into the Late Latin word mellifluus, then continued on into the Middle English word mellyfluous, before crystallizing into the adjective we employ today. As it has for centuries, mellifluous typically and figuratively describes sound, and is often at the tip of the tongues of writers who proclaim that a voice or melody is smooth like molasses (molasses, like mellifluous, is a descendant of the Latin mel). But mellifluous can also be used to describe edibles and potables, such as wine, with a pronounced note of sweetness.
Synonyms
Examples of mellifluous in a Sentence
Chancellor Agard, EW.com, 6 Mar. 2024
Her mellifluous sound, spanning two octaves, is part Snow White communing with the birds, part haunted theremin.
—Michael Schulman, The New Yorker, 5 Feb. 2024
The mellifluous sounds of te reo Māori, the language, have become all but commonplace over the country’s airwaves, in its classrooms and even in official government briefings.
—Natasha Frost, New York Times, 16 Dec. 2023
Sayani, known for his mellifluous voice, initially worked as an English-language presenter for All India Radio (AIR) in Bombay, as Mumbai was known then, thanks to his brother Hamid who was a broadcaster there.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 21 Feb. 2024
The chatter mostly unfolds, in mellifluous French, over white tablecloths and stainless steel countertops, with no PowerPoints or government office furniture in sight.
—Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times, 29 Nov. 2023
These speakers, which are pretty dismissive of low-power tube amps, didn’t miss a beat, and in fact, produced more mellifluous and engaging sound—more warmth and micro-detail—than when driven by the 100-watt solid-state amp that regularly powers them.
—Robert Ross, Robb Report, 18 June 2023
Stories of one magnanimous soul’s power to sow seeds of light and grace that germinate and create a mellifluous echo across time and place.
—Stephen Humphries, The Christian Science Monitor, 17 Oct. 2023
Rudolph Isley, who held dual roles in the influential vocal group the Isley Brothers as a mellifluous harmony singer and co-writer of many of their greatest hits, died on Wednesday at his home in Chicago.
—Jim Farber, New York Times, 12 Oct. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mellifluous.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Mellifluous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mellifluous. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
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mellifluous
adjective
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