euphony means A pronunciation of letters and syllables which is pleasing to the ear. It carries an Arena rating of 2001, earned across 60 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, euphony ranks #591 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words, #1,389 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #2,248 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #3,131 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books.
euphony is pronounced /ˈjuːfəni/.
Why “euphony” is a great word
EUPHONY — [Noun] The quality of being pleasing to the ear, especially through a harmonious combination of words or sounds. From Ancient Greek εὐ- (eu-, "good, well") + φωνή (phōnḗ, "sound, voice"), via French euphonie. Unlike the broad agreement of "harmony" or the jagged clash of "cacophony," euphony is the deliberate cultivation of auditory grace in language itself. It is the liquid lapse of a limerick, the gentle sibilance of a whispered secret, or the low, rounded vowels in "cellar door"—a fleeting, formal proof that the world, for a moment, can be arranged just to be heard.
Etymology
From French euphonie, from Ancient Greek εὐφωνία (euphōnía), from εὐ- (eu-, prefix meaning ‘good, well’) + φωνή (phōnḗ, “sound; (human) voice; discourse, speech”) (from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- (“to say, speak”)) + -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā, suffix forming feminine abstract nouns). The English word is analysable as eu- + -phony.
noun
- A pronunciation of letters and syllables which is pleasing to the ear.e.g.“When I hear you speak, I hear beautiful euphony.”
- The tendency to make phonetic change for ease of pronunciation.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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