muse means of a person: a source of inspiration. It carries an Arena rating of 1531, earned across 2 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, muse ranks #679 of 17,123 for Most Malleable Words, #1,157 of 17,120 for Most Beautiful Words, #1,702 of 17,116 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #2,008 of 17,113 for Most Elegant Words.
muse is pronounced /mjuːz/.
Why “muse” is a great word
A person or spirit that serves as a source of artistic inspiration, often personified as one of the nine goddesses of classical antiquity who preside over the arts and sciences. From Middle French muse, from Latin Mūsa, from Ancient Greek Μοῦσα (Moûsa, 'Muse, goddess of an art'). Unlike 'inspiration,' which names the fleeting spark or inner impulse, or 'artist,' the hand that shapes form from chaos, the muse is the external, living catalyst—the tilt of a head in lamplight that demands a sketch, the cadence of a stranger’s laugh that resolves a line of verse, the silent presence in the studio whose very stillness compels the chisel to move. She exists in the charged space between observation and creation, a reminder that the artist does not work in solitude but in secret collaboration with the world.
Etymology
From Middle French muse, from Latin Mūsa, from Ancient Greek Μοῦσα (Moûsa).
noun
- Of a person: a source of inspiration.e.g.“Yoko Ono was John Lennon's wife, lover, and muse.”
- A poet; a bard.
- One of the nine Ancient Greek deities of the arts.
- An act of musing; a period of thoughtfulness.e.g.“still he sate long time astonished / As in great muse, ne word to creature spake.”
- A gap or hole in a hedge, fence, etc. through which a wild animal is accustomed to pass; a muset.e.g.“Find a hare without a muse. (old proverb)”
name
- A city in Shan State, Myanmar.
- A surname.
- A place in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Glades County, Florida.
- A place in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Le Flore County, Oklahoma, named after Rev. Joseph Muse.
verb
- To become lost in thought, to ponder.
- To say (something) with due consideration or thought.e.g.“When I asked about her affinity for playing self-obsessed artists, O’Hara mused: “Maybe I’m just trying to get it out of my system. I’m so afraid to be like that.””
- To think on; to meditate on.e.g.“Come, then, expressive Silence, muse his praise.”
- To wonder at.e.g.“Muse not that I thus suddenly proceed; for what I will, I will, and there an end.”
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.