Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Agreeable sound, especially in the phonetic quality of words.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Easy enunciation of sounds; a pronunciation which is pleasing to the sense; agreeable utterance.
- noun Harmonious arrangement of sounds in composition; a smooth and agreeable combination of articulate elements in any piece of writing.
- noun Synonyms Euphony, Melody, Harmony, Rhythm. Euphony in style respects simply the question of pleasing sounds in the words themselves. Melody respects the succession of sounds, especially as affected by the pitch appropriate to the thought and required by the arrangement of clauses. Harmony respects the adaptation of sound to sense. Rhythm respects the emphasis—that is, the succession of emphatic and unemphatic syllables. In music melody respects the agreeable combination of successive sounds of various pitch, while harmony respects the agreeable blending of simultaneous sounds of different pitch, the sounds in either case being from voices or musical instruments; thus, a song for children to sing must depend for its effect upon melody rather than harmony.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A pleasing or sweet sound; an easy, smooth enunciation of sounds; a pronunciation of letters and syllables which is pleasing to the ear.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A pronunciation of letters and
syllables which is pleasing to the ear. - noun Good
phonetic quality of certain words.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun any agreeable (pleasing and harmonious) sounds
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Sa and Vaila reached Savaii, united their names also, and, for the sake of euphony, or, as they call euphony "lifting it easily," made it Savaii instead of Savaila.
Samoa, A Hundred Years Ago And Long Before George Turner
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In addition to its more commonly recognized senses, "euphony" also has a more specific meaning in the field of linguistics, where it can refer to the preference for words that are easy to pronounce; this preference may be the cause of an observed trend of people altering the pronunciation of certain words apparently in favor of sound combinations that are simpler and faster to say out loud.
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In addition to its more commonly recognized senses, "euphony" also has a more specific meaning in the field of linguistics, where it can refer to the preference for words that are easy to pronounce; this preference may be the cause of an observed trend of people altering the pronunciation of certain words apparently in favor of sound combinations that are simpler and faster to say out loud.
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Exempting microbrews from a beer tax is the most absurdly tone-deaf proposal the State Dems have come up with in a session that was short on euphony to begin with.
New Senate Revenue Proposal: Sales Tax Reduced, Beer Tax Now in Play « PubliCola 2010
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Its euphony and indefiniteness were a charm tohim.
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He is devoted to reader empowerment like Keats was devoted to euphony.
Pop Culture 2009
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He is devoted to reader empowerment like Keats was devoted to euphony.
Fiction 2009
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He is devoted to reader empowerment like Keats was devoted to euphony.
Art and Literature 2009
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The euphony of Brodsky's verse is irresistible in its ease and naturalness, and one finds oneself remembering lines and stanzas after no more than a couple of readings.
A World Fiercely Observed Leon Aron 2011
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Its euphony and indefiniteness were a charm to him.
steve commented on the word euphony
X
At the sight of blackbirds
Flying in a green light,
Even the bawds of euphony
Would cry out sharply.
Wallace Stevens :thirteen ways of looking at a Blackbird
Stanza 10
July 23, 2009
thesaraheffect commented on the word euphony
Euphonious in itself!
September 17, 2009
madmouth commented on the word euphony
"At the sight of blackbirds
Flying in a green light,
Even the bawds of euphony
Would cry out sharply
..."
-Wallace Stevens
September 17, 2009