Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

mellifluous

/məˈlɪflu.əs/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.08 in modern English

Syllables: mel-liflu-ous
IPA: /məˈlɪflu.əs/

16

Scrabble Score

11

Letters

3

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Flowing like honey.

adj

Sweet, smooth and musical; pleasant to hear (generally used of a person's voice, tone or writing style).

Example Sentences

"Though in heaven the trees / Of life ambrosial fruitage bear, and vines / Yield nectar; though from off the boughs each morn / VVe brush mellifluous devvs, and find the ground / Cover'd vvith pearly grain[…]"
"[…] Socrates […] VVisest of men; from vvhose mouth issued forth / Mellifluous streams that vvater'd all the schools / Of Academicks old and nevv […]"
"Join'd to Theſe [birds], / Thouſands beſide, thick as the covering Leaves / VVhich ſpeck them o'er, their Modulations mix / Mellifluous."
"No verses can be more mellifluous than Petrarch's: something of this will perhaps be attributed to the softness of the Italian language; but the English tongue is also capable of it, however obstinately Johnson may have pronounced otherwise."
"The only novels with which the weary Titan refreshes his mind are those of Thackeray, sometimes of Trollope; the more frivolous sometimes go so far as to sip a little of the honey that falls from the mellifluous lips of Mr A. C. Benson."
"Certainly, he [Richard Ashcroft] returns explicitly to the sound of Urban Hymns on his fourth solo album: neat, sad strings, unhurried percussion and his mellifluous foghorn of a voice."

Etymology

From Middle English mellifluous, mellyfluous, from Latin mellifluus (“flowing like honey”) + -ous, from mel (“honey”) + fluō (“flow”). Compare superfluous and fluid, from same root, and with dulcet (“sweet speech”), alternative Latinate term with a similar meaning.

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: mellifluous,mellyfluous, mellifluus

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /məˈlɪflu.əs/

Inflected Forms

more mellifluous (comparative) most mellifluous (superlative)

Derived Forms

mellifluously mellifluousness unmellifluous

Frequently Paired Words

melliloquent superfluous

Synonyms

birdsweet dulcet euphonious mellifluent honeyed mellisonant sweet

Questions

How do you pronounce mellifluous?: The recorded pronunciation is /məˈlɪflu.əs/.
What does mellifluous mean?: Flowing like honey.
Where does mellifluous come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce mellifluous

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “mellifluous”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/məˈlɪflu.əs/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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