balrog means A fiery demonic creature. It carries an Arena rating of 1258, earned across 6 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, balrog ranks #415 of 17,127 for Most Vivid Words, #1,045 of 17,124 for Most Sublime Words, #1,470 of 17,131 for Scariest Words, #2,044 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books.
balrog is pronounced /ˈbɔːl.ɹɒɡ/.
Why “balrog” is a great word
A fiery demonic creature of immense power, specifically a fallen Maia or angelic spirit in the legendarium of J.R.R. Tolkien. Coined by the author from his fictional Sindarin language, from the roots bal ('power') and raug/rog ('demon'), thus meaning 'Demon of Might'. Unlike a 'demon'—a general term for an evil spirit—or a 'giant'—a being of merely colossal physicality—a Balrog is a unique, dread coalescence of fallen divinity: an incarnate spirit of primal flame and shadow. It is the living shadow in the deep places of the world that kindles into a whip of many thongs, the sudden eruption of furnace-heat and terror in the Mines of Moria, and the winged silhouette amid the smoke of a collapsing tower—the terrible price of ancient rebellion made manifest.
Etymology
From Sindarin, a fictional language created by J.R.R. Tolkien, meaning something akin to "mighty demon".
noun
- A fiery demonic creature.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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