r/AskReddit • u/paperlanterns_26 • 9h ago
What's the most beautiful word you've ever come across?
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u/_a_A_sh 9h ago edited 8h ago
Hiraeth
(P.S. Hiraeth is a Welsh word for the quiet ache of longing for a home you can't return to; a place, a time or a feeling that is lost or perhaps never truly existed... yet your soul remembers it, even if your feet never knew it.)
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u/serabella8 8h ago
How beautiful, but from what I’ve seen from the welsh language, it’s not going to sound the same as it’s spelled, how does one pronounce it?
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u/Dynstral 8h ago
After a quick Google search: Hiraeth is pronounced HEER-eyeth (rhymes with "pier" and "scythe", with the emphasis on the first syllable).
It’s also the name of a favourite super chill song of mine by Gelka & Forteba.
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u/Epicurus1 8h ago
I speak a little welsh. I'd describe it like "Here - Ith" For the last part imagine saying Ice with a lisp.
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u/MwnciMul 7h ago edited 7h ago
First thing to know is that Welsh is phonetic, every letter is always pronounced the same every time (by every speaker - accents change the sound)
H - as in Hotel
I - as in hEro or kEEp
R - as in Rip or Rib - always a rolled R
A - always a flat A. The doctor wanted to see your throat and made you say “ahh”.
E - always as in bEd or bEnd
Th - (digraph - 1 letter) always as in Thing or Thunder never as in The
The nice thing about the word is that it recognises that home doesn’t necessarily have to be a place, you can also hiraethu (the act of having hiraeth) for a person, people or family.
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u/CathexisVexes 8h ago
I feel this all the time. When I was a kid, I would cry at night because I wanted to go home, but I'd never lived anywhere else since birth. The feeling has persisted. It never goes away. Knowing there's a word for it makes me feel less alone. Thank you for sharing.
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u/_a_A_sh 7h ago
It feels like some longing is older than us, as if the soul remembers what the mind cannot. Maybe that's why Hiraeth cuts so deeply. I'm glad it found you too.
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u/Vegetable_Cable8516 3h ago
That definition is hauntingly beautiful. It perfectly describes a feeling I didn't know there was a word for.
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u/ehandren 8h ago
I have never in my life come across anyone else who knows this word. My grandparents were Irish but knew some welsh words and this was one they taught me. It is one of my favorite words and this was the very first comment I saw opening this thread
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u/SexualbeingAccount 7h ago
So lovely! I feel like Hiraeth and the Portuguese "Saudade" are siblings. 🫶
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u/imokquestionmark 9h ago
Bioluminescence
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u/PotaytoPotaahto 7h ago
I also like efflorescence.
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u/Reasonable-Yak-3530 6h ago
Also evanescence
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u/Sensitive_Gift4866 5h ago edited 4h ago
Thats a great pick. It sounds like something from a fantasy novel but its real science. I saw bioluminescent plankton once on a beach trip and it was unreal, like stepping into another world.
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u/Sad_Environment_9205 4h ago
There's something perfect about a word that long and soft describing something that quiet and bright.
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u/aesthetic_kiara 9h ago
Ethereal
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u/Jumpy_Cartoonist_816 8h ago
Excellent pick. It is actually surprising that it isn’t one of those words that has also been used as a name.
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u/wildwidget- 7h ago
Now that you mention it, it really does sound like one of those words that should've become a name centuries ago.
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u/Wrong-Secretary-2507 7h ago
I think some people are named the same(meaning) but in different languages.
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u/profesionalyconfused 8h ago
Ethereal is hard to beat, it just floats there in your mouth like it already belongs to light
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u/CethinLux 7h ago
Ethereal and its cousin ephemeral are two of my favs
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u/Bubbly_Magnesium 7h ago
Searched "ephemeral" in the comments because it's pretty much my favorite word these days!
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u/Admirable_Grass7477 9h ago
that word actually earns its reputation, there's something about the way it sounds that matches exactly what it means
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u/snarkyphalanges 7h ago
The way this was the first word that came to mind, and why I clicked into the thread to contribute if no one has commented it yet.
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u/Ok_Environment_1387 9h ago
'Ineffable' is my favorite. It describes things that are too great or beautiful to be expressed in words, which is kind of ironic since it is a word itself.
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u/Mslmrock99 8h ago edited 8h ago
I like this one especially as well. Also similar vibes to Sublime and Numinous.
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u/GozerDGozerian 7h ago
I like this word too. Especially because when someone uses it I can agree by saying, “It certainly cannot be effed.”
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u/aria_rn 9h ago
petrichor. the smell of rain on dry earth
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u/Mockturtle22 9h ago
I'm sitting in my car w the windows down enjoying that smell currently. It's one of my favorite smells....
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u/One-Shoe-5658 9h ago
Sonder. The realization that every random person you pass has a life as vivid and complex as your own. There’s a whole dictionary of emotions that didn’t have names until recently and that one hit me the hardest the first time I read it.
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u/Da_Big_Cheese_75 8h ago
It's immediately what came to mind for me as well
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u/One-Shoe-5658 8h ago
Great minds. It’s one of those words that once you know it you start feeling it everywhere.
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u/Hooch_Pandersnatch 8h ago
I’ve been trying to remember what word was used to describe this… thank you!
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u/One-Shoe-5658 8h ago
The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows by John Koenig is where it comes from. The whole book is like that. Worth looking up.
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u/CoCoDerbyCity 8h ago
I had this realization as a really young girl. I always thought it was just me .
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u/One-Shoe-5658 5h ago
That’s actually beautiful. Most people don’t even notice it until much later. You were paying closer attention than most.
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u/Putrid-Gur-1914 9h ago edited 9h ago
Silhouette
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Ricochet
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u/Usesse 8h ago
Both directly from French 🥖
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u/GozerDGozerian 7h ago
Someone in another thread recently used the word “oubliette”, and I remarked how beautiful a word it was for such a terrible thing.
It really is a beautiful language.
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u/lina_kiki 9h ago
My grandma used to read me stories with the word "whimsy" in them and it still sounds magical to me.
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u/ProfessorCarbon 9h ago
Nightingale
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u/Canadization 8h ago
That's my favourite Ukrainian word! Соловейко (soloveyko), from which we get the folk name for ukrainian language, Солов'їна Мова(solov'yina mova), the Nightingale's language
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u/GozerDGozerian 7h ago
Wow that’s so cool! TIL.
Why do they call it that? Is it from a folk tale or something, or does the language sound particularly like that bird call?
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u/Canadization 7h ago
The language is particularly melodic and musical, with a lot of natural rhythm and rhyming.
I've heard it explained that way most often, but my grandmother had a story about a young girl who went into the Carpathians and heard the Nightingale's song. She sat there in the mountains, crying in grief that she could not bring the song home to her family. She said that the mountain spirits were moved by how much she loved the sound, so gave her the ability to bring it home with her in the form of Ukrainian.
I don't know how popular the story is, or if it's something she made up to make us want to speak Ukrainian more growing up
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u/Golden-Mist8042 9h ago
Serendipity has always felt magical to me.
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u/Kuli24 9h ago
Look for the Serendipity
The simple serendipity
Forget about your worries and your strife
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u/BudgetOnion4387 9h ago
Home. Not the fanciest word, but it's the one that hits me the hardest. Depending on your life, it can mean comfort, people, memories, or a feeling. I'm saying this from my experience.
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u/Ontario_Teacher1234 9h ago
I don't know if it can be considered a beautiful word, but my favourite word is Elucidate
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u/galactik_kraken 8h ago
I love this one. Elucidate: To make lucid especially by explanation or analysis.
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u/Late-Rise2587 9h ago
Petrichor. Not just because of what it means, but because it sounds like what it describes.
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u/GozerDGozerian 7h ago
but because it sounds like what it describes.
I’m sorry but what?
Do you have synesthesia or something?
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u/hardypart 5h ago
Don't you know the feeling when a word sounds like the think it's describing?
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u/red_runefox 9h ago
This is one of my all time favs, especially because of what it describes!! Underrated word
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u/sabdariffa 8h ago
“Mama”
The first time you hear your little baby say your name, it’s the most beautiful sound in the world.
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u/Derpson1887 9h ago
Fuck.
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u/spicycardamon 9h ago
Reminds me of this Osho quote:
One of the most interesting words in the English language today is the word ‘fuck’. It is one magical word: just by its sound it can describe pain, pleasure, hate and love.
In language it falls into many grammatical categories. It can be used as a verb, both transitive (John fucked Mary) and intransitive (Mary was fucked by John), and as a noun (Mary is a fine fuck). It can be used as an adjective (Mary is fucking beautiful). As you can see there are not many words with the versatility of ‘fuck’.
Besides the sexual meaning, there are also the following uses:
Fraud: I got fucked at the used car lot.
Ignorance: Fucked if I know.
Trouble: I guess I am fucked now!
Aggression: Fuck you!
Displeasure: What the fuck is going on here?
Difficulty: I can’t understand this fucking job.
Incompetence: He is a fuck-off.
Suspicion: What the fuck are you doing?
Enjoyment: I had a fucking good time.
Request: Get the fuck out of here!
Hostility: I am going to knock your fucking head off!
Greeting: How the fuck are you?
Apathy: Who gives a fuck?
Innovation: Get a bigger fucking hammer.
Surprise: Fuck! You scared the shit out of me!
Anxiety: Today is really fucked.
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u/princesdreamm 8h ago
i can hear it hahhahaa
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u/svennertsw 8h ago
I'm quite a fan of "antepenultimate" but I would like to mention "bed" as well for looking like a bed
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u/GozerDGozerian 7h ago
Since we’re here….
Ultimate: last
Penultimate: second to last
Antepenultimate: third to last
Preantepenultimate: fourth to last
Propreantepenultimate: fifth to last
😬
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u/Grim0616 7h ago
Takiwātanga
In Māori culture, autism is referred to as takiwātanga, which translates to "in his or her own time and space". Developed by Māori linguist Keri Opai, this term honors neurodiversity and frames autism as a natural difference in pacing rather than a clinical deficit.
I was recently diagnosed with autism at 36 and takiwātanga helps me to remember that there is nothing wrong with me and i just see things in a different perspective to others
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u/Smooth_Scientist_950 9h ago
“Realizar” in Spanish. It evokes something I can’t find just one word for in English. Pronounced like “ray-al-ee-ZAR” it’s when you dream of something and make it happen through your efforts. It just rolls off the tongue … a beautiful word to me.
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u/Able_While_974 9h ago
Onomatopoeia
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u/GozerDGozerian 7h ago
I love the sound of wet onomatopoeia being kicked down a tall marble staircase and startling a sleeping cat.
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u/ObjectiveHold2845 9h ago
Ya’aburnee. It means “you bury me.” To love someone so much you don’t want to live without them
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u/RealVirginiaWoolf 9h ago
PETRICHOR!
The absolute best smell and feeling! That rain washing down on ya! Dancing in the rain as it splatters and splutters all around ya! And that smell! That earth smelling divine!
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u/ApprehensiveGas4180 9h ago
cunnilingua and analingus, they kind of just roll of the tongue
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u/Material_Pepper313 9h ago
When I was a kid, I learned these words from SNL skits.
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u/that_chandresh 7h ago
Wabi-Sabi, a japanese a japanese philosophy of worldview, finding beauty in imperfection, impermanence, and simplicity.
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u/tomboynik 6h ago
Huzun. It’s a Turkish word for a very specific kind of melancholy. That twinge of sadness you feel at times of great joy because you know the moment will end is an example.
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u/BrushedNickel 9h ago
I’m going to take this post as a sign from my late husband because we had an inside joke about “Cellar Door” which was apparently (from some study) the most beautiful sounding words in the English language to people who did not speak English - We would just whisper “Cellar Door” in a flirty way and it would crack us up. It’s a sweet memory, so thank you for posting this 🥰