adjective
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having a tune that is pleasant to the ear
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of or relating to melody; melodic
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of melodious
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English word from Medieval Latin word melōdiōsus. See melody, -ous
Explanation
Use the adjective melodious to describe something that sounds like music, like a babbling brook or a little boy's soft humming. Anything that makes a pleasant, tuneful sound can be called melodious, which makes sense when you spot the word melody in melodious. Both have a root in common, the Greek word meloidia, which means "singing, or a tune for lyric poetry." It, in turn, comes from melos, or "song."
Vocabulary lists containing melodious
Excerpt from "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer"
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List 8
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
One music journalist told us it was the "perfect football song" with its melodious mix of "euphoria and melancholy".
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
Thomas’s youth within a melodious family helped shape his ear for poetry, and the prose of his yuletide memoir also pulses with a pleasing lyricism.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 19, 2025
Women wearing long wigs and ornate traditional dresses milled around a pebbled courtyard, stopping to snap photos under a pavilion, as the melodious strumming of the Chinese zither played in the background.
From Barron's ● Nov. 14, 2025
“The concerts help me to escape whenever the seclusion of working on an album becomes too much,” she says in Spanish that sounds just as melodious as her singing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 20, 2025
Then it rang again, two melodious chimes, and Mrs. Corcoran clicked through from the back of the house and past us without a word or a glance.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
