Charming Guide To The Most Beautiful Words In The English Language

So, you're after some beautiful words; how about pretty words with dark meanings or even aesthetic words that are pleasing?

What is beautiful to one person may not be to another. However, in this article, we're going to try and be as unbiased as we can and give you plenty of examples and definitions, so you can decide what words you find beautiful!

For teachers, if you're using this beautiful words list to improve your student's vocabulary, go through the list little by little with them and let them discover beautiful words to use in their essays and vocabulary.

Aesthetic Words

Have you ever read or heard a word that sounds perfect? It could be described as aesthetically pleasing. A few beautiful words are commonly aesthetic– you can decide if you agree!

1. Cultivated - educated, informed, or refined.
2. Demure - modest, shy, quiet.
3. Epiphany - from religious texts, a feeling of realization.
4. Ethereal - non-human, extremely fragile, spiritual.
5. Euphoria - extreme happiness, letting go of being overwhelmed.
6. Hiraeth (Welsh) - homesick, missing home, a deep desire for somewhere.
7. Idyllic - perfect, ideal, just what you wanted.
8. Ineffable - something that is so great; you can't put it into words.
9. Iridescent - the color change of surfaces depending on the angle it's seen.
10. Nostalgia - being reminded of a moment or time in life, normally a happy memory.
11. Quiver - a shiver, tremble, movement.
12. Serendipity - a series of events happening in a way that wasn't necessarily expected but is beneficial or happy.
13. Solitude - being alone
14. Sonder - realizing that everyone you pass has their own life of hard times like yourself.
15. Whimsical - playful, funny, moods quickly change.

Pretty Words That Have Dark, Negative or Unusual Meanings

There are tons of words in English that sound beautiful when spoken, but have a hidden or dark meaning. Though we wouldn't suggest calling your mom banal, you might want to use them to describe a character or to add depth to your writing.

1. Abysmal - really bad, deep, awful.
2. Atrocious - outstanding in a bad way, not pleasant, wicked.
3. Banal - very dull, bland, and not original.
4. Belligerent - very aggressive, a place in the middle of a war.
5. Calamity - is a sudden event that causes great distress and disaster.
6. Cynical - selfish, self-centered, believing everyone else is untrustworthy.
7. Epidemia - is an epidemic where a sickness affects many people in a region or community.
8. Imbroglio - a confusing or embarrassing situation.
9. Imposter -  imposter syndrome, fake, pretending to be someone else.

Pretty Words Flashcards

Want to discover more? Check out these flashcards. There are beautiful words in English that have deeper or darker meanings, here's a few for you.

Beautiful Words That Describe Appearance or Feel

Need to describe a character or how something looks or feels? Why not try using one of these.

1. Cushioned - comfortable, has padding.
2. Effervescent - bubbly, fizzy.
3. Elegant - poised, stylish.
4. Etched - made, structured, engraved, or something you remember.
5. Gleaming - shiny.
6. Gooey - full of goo, oozing, tacky.
7. Luscious - rich, sexy, and appealing.
8. Precious - valuable, a term of endearment.
9. Rosy-pink, rose-colored, rosy cheeks, blush.
10. Scenic - an area of impressive natural beauty. 
11. Serene - calm, tranquility, is used to describe blissful situations. 
12. Silky - the exact or similar feeling to silk. Often smooth and soft.
13. Sticky - tacky or adhesive-like substance. 
14. Supple - bendy, flexible. 
15. Tranquil - calming and peaceful.

Beautiful Words to Describe Emotions or Feelings

Emotions are deep and there are many words that describe the feeling of happiness; so, extend your vocabulary with the following beautiful words in English.

1. Beatitude - supreme blessedness, often used in religious texts.
2. Dejavu - strange feeling of having seen or felt something before.
3. Discombobulated - overwhelmed, confused; when your emotions are mixed.
4. Ecstatic - a synonym for overly excited, delighted.
5. Ellipsism -  is the feeling of complete sorrow, knowing that you will never know how life will continue when you're dead.
6. Ebullience - feeling of complete joy and energy.
7. Evocate - the feeling of calling up a past memory or emotion.
8. Felicity - the feeling of being happy or content, intense joy, being able to find expressions for your thoughts.
9. Halcyon - a synonym for calm, peaceful, and content.
10. Lalochezia - the calm relief you get after cursing when you really need to.
11. Limerence -  intense desire, the feeling of infatuation, romantic attraction.
12. Lyrical - to be well expressed in thoughts and opinions, typically through speech.
13. Occhiolism - to be aware of how insignificant and small you are compared to the universe.
14. Trouvaille - something that's lucky, a fortunate find.

Beautiful Words Related to Sound & Music

Struggling to find a beautiful word to describe a particular sound or type music? Try one of these.

1. Cadence - the specific intervals between two notes or chords. Typically used at the end of a phrase or piece of music.
2. Crescendo - gradually increasing in volume.
3. Ditty - a short, simple piece of music or spoken word.
4. Euphonic - music that's nice to listen to.
5. Hypnotic - music you can't turn off, music that takes you away from reality.
6. Legato - longer, slower, and connected musical notes.
7. Lilt - a style of vocal speech, often associated with specific accents, gentle and calming.
8. Mellifluous - mellow and pleasing sounds.
9. Mondegreen - mondegreens result from mishearing something, usually a song lyric.
10. Piano - not to be confused with the instrument; it means playing quietly.
11. Reverberant - the echoing sound that continues after playing certain musical instruments.
12. Rhyme - the relationship between two or more words that sound similar or have a rhythmic quality.
13. Rubato - phrasing music, expressive freedom.
14. Sonorous - synonym for an impressive, loud, deep, or imposing voice or sound.
15. Staccato - short, quick, and broken musical notes.

Beautiful Words Related To Movement

Movement is beautiful and these beautiful words are too!

1. Agile - able to move or adapt to a changing situation quickly and correctly. 
2. Amble - moving slowly, similar to strolling, wandering.
3. Balletic - relating to a ballet pose or movement.
4. Dainty - describing someone that uses small and delicate movements.
5. Demeanor - the way someone moves or acts.
6. Fluent - able to move with fluidity, long and considered moves, graceful.
7. Fluidity - describing something or someone that flows nicely into something else, skillful.
8. Glide - a slow, considered continuous movement, floating.
9. Graceful - moving with sophistication, often used to describe swans.
10. Kinesthetic - kinesthetic learning, learning by doing, understanding how body parts move to do certain things.
11. Lithe - synonym for graceful and agile.
12. Mannerisms - the repeated, habitual actions that someone or something does.
13. Poise - moving with purpose and self-assurance, composed.
14. Smooth - a movement without any stops or bumps.
15. Synergy - when two or more substances or groups move together to create something greater than they could by themselves.

Unique Beautiful Words

Sometimes beautiful words also have beautiful meanings, see if you agree!

1. Anecdote - a humorous story or tale that's short and based on actual events.
2. Aurora - the sky's atmosphere at sunrise, dawn, reddish or greenish light.
3. Bombinate - the act of making a buzzing sound.
4. Chatoyant -  the cat's eye, the bright light in a gemstone caused by reflections.
5. Epoch - a synonym for an era or time in someone's life.
6. Incandescence - when referring to someone as incandescent, it means they're impressive or very something; incandescent with anger.
7. Opia - visual disorder.
8. Petrichor - the smell of concrete after it's rained.
9. Phosphenes - the shapes and lights when you press on your eyes.
10. Plethora - a synonym for many, lots of.
11. Pluviophile - a way to describe someone who loves rain.
12. Popple - water trickling or rippling.
13. Sequoia - a specific type of red tree typically found in California.
14. Somnambulist - someone that sleepwalks.
15. Supine - lying on your back, facing upwards.

Beautiful Synonyms

If you've been thinking, why can't I find a synonym for beautiful? This one's for you.

1. Adorable
2. Alluring
3. Attractive
4. Becoming
5. Beguiling
6. Bewitching
7. Bonny (Old English)
8. Breath-taking
9. Captivating
10. Charming
11. Cute
12. Dazzling
13. Pulchritudinous (Old Latin)
14. Radiant
15. Ravishing
16. Striking

Well, wasn't that a linguistic buffet? With this plethora of dazzling words, you'll be constructing your own beautiful sentences in no time!