If I were asked to choose the most beautiful-sounding words in the English language, I’d be very hard-pressed to do so!

For me, words are like musical notes. It’s only when they dance together in phrases and sentences, that they create beautiful symphonies … or sometimes crashing disharmonies, for that matter. :)

If I’d thought about it at all, I would never have considered “cellar door” would be held up as one of the most beautiful-sounding  – or euphonic – word combinations!

Yet that’s what I learned from this post on The Hot Word – which is the blog section of the very popular online reference source, Dictionary.com.

Amazing!

It was also fascinating to browse through the comments on that post, where readers suggested their own choices.

A later post on The Hot Word shared a list of words that had been most commonly mentioned by readers.

What was at the top of that list?

“Serendipity”.

And I have to agree that serendipity is a beautiful word – but not only because of its sound.  It’s always been a favourite word of mine because of its meaning.

Other words people suggested most frequently included: soliloquy, epiphany, Elysium and elysian, scissors, vivacious, fudge, telephony, nycthemeron, cinnamon, woodthrush, phosphorescence, lithe, and languorous.

By the way … did you find yourself, as I did, reading that list aloud to hear its music?

What would be your choice? If you’ve got a favourite word or word combination that’s music to your ears, please drop me a line! :)