30 Beautiful Words to Use This Fall

“For without words, in friendship, all thoughts, all desires, all expectations are born and shared, with joy that is unacclaimed.” ~Kahlil Gibran,The Prophet~

I absolutely love words. Books were always a favorite past time of mine growing up, armed with a dictionary and a pencil I would find a quite spot and loose myself in stories of lives not my own. Even though I rarely revisit a book I’ve read, I always looked up any word I did not know and wrote notes in the margins. It made me feel scholarly, feel that one day my own words would be read and appreciated as much as I have appreciated those of others.

Why don’t we appreciate words more? In a world of opinions, words are more often used as weapons then wishes. We can call out the world, put it right in it’s place, from the tips of our fingers…or so it may seem. Very rarely do words spoken before thought change history, just as a classic novel is not made in one pass. An appreciation for a word yields more to its power then hurling it through the air with no specific target.

I’ve always wanted to be a writer, and I’ve got plenty of book ideas. One day I will write one, it’s on the to-do list, but I currently have other passions I’m not done exploring yet. However, sharing my love of words can be done any day. It is no secret that words amass feelings, so I wanted to share some of my favorites.

I challenge you to use one of these words a day. One word to change someone’s day for the better. What I love about this list is these are not all that common in everyday speech…therefore, the word alone sparks a conversation.

A List of Words Worth Using

• Mellifluous – A sound that is sweet and smooth, pleasing to hear.
• Ineffable – Too great to be expressed in words.
• Sonorous – An imposingly deep and full sound.
• Ethereal – Extremely delicate, light, not of this world.
• Ephemeral – Lasting for a very short time
• Serendipity – The chance occurrence of events in a beneficial way.
• Limerence – The state of being infatuated with another person.
• Petrichor – The pleasant, earthy smell after rain.
• Solitude – A state of seclusion or isolation.
• Aurora – Dawn.
• Syzygy – An alignment of celestial bodies.
• Denouement – The resolution of a narrative.
• Vellichor – The strange wistfulness of used bookshops.
• Eloquence – The art of using language in an apt, fluent way.
• Sonder – The realization that each passerby has a life as vivid and complex as your own.
• Effervescence – Bubbles in a liquid; lively; sparkling.
• Nemophilist – A haunter of the woods; one who loves the forest and its beauty and solitude.
• Meliorism – The belief that the world gets better; the belief that humans can improve the world.
• Acatalepsy – The impossibility of comprehending the universe; the belief that human knowledge can never have true certainty.
• Chimera – Mythical beast; any unreal thing; foolish fancy.
• Brontide – The low rumbling of distant thunder.
• Autolatry – The worship of one’s self.
• Metanoia – The journey of changing one’s mind, heart, self, or way of life.

OTHER LANGUAGES

• Sophrosyne (greek/noun) – A healthy state of mind, characterized by self-control, moderation, and a deep awareness of one’s true self, and resulting in true happiness.
• Fernweh (german/noun) – An ache for distant places; The craving for travel.
• Smultronstalle (swedish/noun) – “Place of wild strawberries”; a special place discovered, treasured, returned to for solace and relaxation; a personal idyll free from stress or sadness.
• Rasasvada (sanskrit/noun) – The taste of bliss in the absence of all thoughts.
• Nefelibata (spanish/noun) – “Cloud walker”; one who lives in the clouds of their own imagination or dreams, or one who does not obey the conventions of society, literature, or art.
• Derive (french/noun) – “Drift”; a spontaneous journey where the traveller leaves their life behind for a time to let the spirit of the landscape and architecture attract and move them.
• Tsundoku (japanese/noun) – Buying books and not reading them; letting books pile up unread on shelves or floors or nightstands.

 

Though this list only scratches the surface of beautiful words, I hope they can resonate with others as they have with myself.

Speak kindly, thoughtfully, and purposefully.