sylph means an invisible being of the air. It carries an Arena rating of 1577, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, sylph ranks #1,212 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #1,248 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #1,409 of 17,140 for Most Whimsical Words, #1,581 of 17,104 for Most Storied Words.
sylph is pronounced /sɪlf/.
Why “sylph” is a great word
A sylph is a slender, graceful woman or girl, or an elemental spirit of the air. From New Latin *sylphes*, coined in the 16th century by Paracelsus, likely deriving from Latin *sylvestris* ("of the woods") and *nympha* ("nymph"), the term was first attested in English in 1657. Unlike a nymph, bound to a specific spring or grove, or a fairy, a creature of capricious enchantment, a sylph is an alchemical concept—air itself given a fleeting, elegant form. She is the shiver in a curtain when no window is open, the sudden coolness on a fevered brow, the faint stir of linen in a sealed room—a presence defined by absence, a form made of the space between touch and release.
Etymology
First attested in 1657. From New Latin sylphes, coined by Paracelsus in the 16th century. The coinage may derive from Latin sylvestris (“of the woods”) and nympha (“nymph”). Ultimately from the root silva (“woods, forest”). Related to sylvan. More at Wikipedia.
noun
- An invisible being of the air.e.g.“Her heart fluttered with expectation—her step was buoyant with hope, and she sprung into the carriage with the lightness of a sylph.” — 1811, Mary Brunton, Self-Control:
- The elemental being of air, usually female.
- A slender woman or girl, usually graceful and sometimes with the implication of sublime station over everyday people.
- Any of the mainly dark green and blue hummingbirds (genus Aglaiocercus), the male of which has a long forked tail.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- sylphy 75% match — sylphlike vs sylph →
- sylphidic 74% match — Of or resembling a sylphid vs sylph →
- nymph 64% match — Any female nature spirit associated with water, forests, grottos, wind, etc. vs sylph →
- elven 57% match — Originally, a female elf, a fairy, a nymph; (by extension) any elf. vs sylph →
- ephydriad 55% match — A dryad, a water nymph. vs sylph →
- elemental 55% match — Of, relating to, or being an element (as opposed to a compound). vs sylph →
- ethereal 55% match — Pertaining to the presupposition of an invisible air-like element permeating all of space, or to the higher regions beyond the earth or beyond the atmosphere. vs sylph →
- maelid 55% match — The nymph associated with an apple tree. vs sylph →