dulcet

[duhl-sit]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR dulcet ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

pleasant to the ear; melodious: the dulcet tones of the cello.

pleasant or agreeable to the eye or the feelings; soothing.

Archaic. sweet to the taste or smell.

noun

an organ stop resembling the dulciana but an octave higher.

RELATED WORDS

agreeable, musical, pleasurable, sweet

Nearby words

Origin of dulcet

1350–1400; obsolete dulce (< Latin, neuter of dulcis sweet) + -et; replacing Middle English doucet < Middle French; see douce

SYNONYMS FOR dulcet

1. musical, tuneful, mellifluous, sweet-sounding.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR dulcet ON THESAURUS.COM

Related formsdul·cet·ly, adverbdul·cet·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for dulcet

"You're a little hard on me, Mrs. Shairp," he said, in dulcet tones.
Under False Pretences|Adeline Sergeant
The drain-pipe was dripping, a dulcet and lively song: drippety drip drip dribble, drippety drip drip drip.
Babbitt|Sinclair Lewis
I pushed my way in and asked him, in my most dulcet tone, if I could get an upper berth to New Orleans.
The Burial of the Guns|Thomas Nelson Page
She shaped them like Mini-balls, that they might traverse unerringly to the cell of most dulcet digestion.
Mount Rainier|Various

But all realized that somewhere behind that dulcet voice and the gentle manner was a heart of flint and nerves of steel.
Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great Philosophers, Volume 8|Elbert Hubbard

British Dictionary definitions for dulcet

dulcet

adjective

(of a sound) soothing or pleasant; sweet

Derived Formsdulcetly, adverbdulcetness, noun

Word Origin for dulcet

C14: from Latin dulcis sweet

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for dulcet

dulcet

adj.

late 14c., from Old French doucet, diminutive of doux "sweet," earlier dulz, from Latin dulcis, from PIE *dlk-wi-, suffixed form of root *dlk-u- "sweet" (cf. glucose).