mellifluous

[muh-lif-loo-uhs]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR mellifluous ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

sweetly or smoothly flowing; sweet-sounding: a mellifluous voice; mellifluous tones.

flowing with honey; sweetened with or as if with honey.

Origin of mellifluous

1375–1425; late Middle English < Late Latin mellifluus, equivalent to Latin melli- (stem of mel) honey + -flu(ere) to flow + -us adj. suffix (see -ous)

Related formsmel·lif·lu·ous·ly, adverbmel·lif·lu·ous·ness, nounun·mel·lif·lu·ous, adjectiveun·mel·lif·lu·ous·ly, adverb

Synonyms for mellifluous

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR mellifluous ON THESAURUS.COM

1. melodious, musical, dulcet, harmonious.

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

Related Words for mellifluously

harmonious, mellifluously, melodiously, musically

Examples from the Web for mellifluously

Contemporary Examples of mellifluously

The real revelation, though, is the mellifluously named Holliday Grainger.
The Borgias' Entertaining Excess
Allen Barra
May 21, 2011

Historical Examples of mellifluously

"And if not, angelic breasts do not harbor resentment long," said Don Inocencio mellifluously.
Dona Perfecta
B. Perez Galdos
“I'll put it up when you stop speakin' mellifluously of my friends,” declared the barber.
The Debtor
Mary E. Wilkins Freeman

British Dictionary definitions for mellifluously

mellifluous

mellifluent

adjective

(of sounds or utterances) smooth or honeyed; sweet

Derived Formsmellifluously or mellifluently, adverbmellifluousness or mellifluence, noun

Word Origin for mellifluous

C15: from Late Latin mellifluus flowing with honey, from Latin mel honey + fluere to flow

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 mellifluously

mellifluous

adj.

early 15c., "sweet, pleasing" (of an odor, a style of speaking or writing, etc.), from Late Latin mellifluus "flowing with (or as if with) honey," from Latin mel (genitive mellis) "honey" (related to Greek meli "honey;" see Melissa) + -fluus "flowing," from fluere "to flow" (see fluent). Related: Melifluously; melifluousness.