Diaphanous Is the Most Beautiful-Sounding Word in the English Language, According to American Poets

Ever since J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis commented that “cellar door” is one of the most beautiful-sounding terms in the English language, writers, poets and linguists have hotly debated the all-important question: which words do people find most beautiful to hear? While meaning and cultural associations play a role, the sound of language itself has fascinated artists and readers for centuries. At the heart of this debate lies phonaesthetics, the study of the beauty and appeal of speech sounds.

To identify the most beautiful-sounding word in the English language, language-learning platform Babbel partnered with the oldest poetry organization in the United States, the Poetry Society of America, and in May asked its 1,500 members — poets, readers, and writers who work closely with language and sound — to vote on a shortlist of 20 beautiful-sounding words. 

The shortlist was compiled by Babbel's team of experts, using linguist Robert Beard's 100 Most Beautiful Words in English and established principles of phonaesthetic appeal, including sound symbolism, rhythm, vowel quality, and euphony. The final list was then presented to the Poetry Society of America’s members. Following the vote, "diaphanous" emerged as the most beautiful-sounding word in the English language.

Top 10 Most Beautiful-Sounding Words in English

Ranked by number of votes from members of the Poetry Society of America.

After completing the vote, members of the Poetry Society of America were also invited to nominate English words not featured on the shortlist, as well as beautiful-sounding words from other languages.

Runners Up: Other English Words Nominated as Beautiful-Sounding

Among the additional English-language nominations, “luminous” emerged as the most frequently suggested word among Poetry Society members, followed by “serendipitous” and “sensuous”. While responses varied, soft phonetics consistently came out on top, with sounds such as L, S, M, R, and V appearing frequently in preferred choices. Very few harsh, clipped words were selected, reinforcing the idea that certain sounds are inherently more pleasing. 

Analysis of the nominations revealed several recurring themes. Many words evoked light, radiance, and beauty, including luminous, pearlescent, and incandescent. Others drew on nature and the landscape, with suggestions such as willow, moonshine, and estuary. Words associated with emotion and human feeling, including longing, compassion, and tranquility, also featured prominently, alongside more classical and spiritual terms such as numinous, and ineffable. A further group reflected sound, music, and language itself, including sonorous, melody, and murmuration.

Some nominations were inspired by literary traditions and influential writers. Members concurred with Tolkien and Lewis, citing “cellar door” as an example of a pleasing sound, as well as “elysian,” a word frequently employed in Romantic poetry to evoke an idealized sense of beauty and paradise.

Interestingly, several nominations demonstrated that sound can outweigh meaning. Words such as “diarrhea,” and “euthanasia” were in the list of suggestions from poets despite their potentially uncomfortable or unsettling associations, suggesting that phonetic appeal can be appreciated independently of a word’s definition.

French Comes Out on Top: The Most Beautiful-Sounding Words in Non-English Languages

Poets were also invited to share their recommendations for phonaesthetically-appealing words outside of the English language, with French establishing itself not only as the language of love but the language of phonetic beauty, as French words appeared most frequently among members’ suggestions. Words such as épaulette (a military ornamental shoulder piece), mélange ("mixture"), and désolée ("sorry") serve as further proof that a word’s meaning need not determine how beautiful it sounds. Rich in vowels and flowing rhythms, French aligns closely with the soft, melodic sounds that were consistently favored throughout the survey.

Looking across all non-English nominations, several distinct themes emerged. Words most centered on love, affection, and human connection appeared most frequently, with respondents nominating words such as amour (French), amore (Italian), amor (Spanish and Latin), amoroso (Italian), habibi (Arabic), and corazón (Spanish).

Expression, emotion, longing, and nostalgia were also featured heavily. Among the most frequently cited were saudade (Portuguese), often described as a feeling of nostalgic longing, and hiraeth (Welsh), a deep yearning for a place, time, or feeling that may never return. Respondents also nominated ennui (French) and duende (Spanish), a term associated with artistic soul and emotional intensity. While these words are often celebrated for their difficult-to-translate meanings, their soft consonants and flowing syllables also reflect the survey's broader preference for gentle, musical sounds.

Nature and the physical world formed another recurring theme. Popular nominations included papillon (French for "butterfly"), alongside its Spanish counterpart mariposa, as well as arrebol (Spanish for the glow of a sunset), thalassa (Greek for "sea"), arboleda (Spanish for "grove"), and fleur (French for "flower"). These words combine evocative imagery with the vowel-rich, rhythmic sounds that respondents repeatedly favored.

Spiritual, philosophical, and mythological concepts were similarly well represented. Suggestions included samsara (Sanskrit, referring to the cycle of rebirth), wabi-sabi (the Japanese philosophy of finding beauty in imperfection), and thavma (Greek for "miracle"). Together, these words reflect a fascination with wonder, transcendence, and ideas that reach beyond everyday experience.

Across languages, the results reveal a striking consistency. Whether describing love, longing, nature, or spirituality, the words that resonated most strongly tended to share similar phonetic qualities: soft consonants, flowing vowels, and melodic rhythms. While meaning undoubtedly played a role, the survey suggests that certain sounds possess an appeal that transcends language meaning.

Why Do We Find Some Words More Beautiful Than Others?

Matt Brogan, Executive Director at the Poetry Society of America comments: "One of the paradoxes of language is that it is easier to hear the distinctive music of a language you don’t know than one you do. Unless you are a poet. Poets are keenly attuned to the sound effects of language, the ways in which consonants and vowels combine, repeat, clash, and echo to give a word or phrase its soundtrack. The originality of some of their suggestions here for 'the most beautiful-sounding word' reminds us that phonaesthetics is as much an art as a science."

Esteban Touma, Linguistic and Cultural Expert at Babbel comments: “We all know beauty, in all its forms, is inherently subjective. In literature, however, the beauty of language often extends beyond meaning alone. From an early age, we are immersed in language through stories read aloud by family members; while we may remember the tales themselves, it is often the gentle rhythm and soft undulation of carefully chosen words that soothe us to sleep. Those instincts remain, regardless of language. Phonaesthetics shapes our responses to sounds in ways that often transcend meaning, nationality and native tongue. While every language contains words that speakers find melodious or satisfying, multilingualism reveals an even broader dimension of this phenomenon: people are frequently drawn to the sounds of languages they neither speak nor fully understand. Idioms rich in flowing vowels, softer consonants and musical intonation, for example, are commonly judged as more pleasing to the ear.

"This cross-linguistic appeal demonstrates that our appreciation of language is not solely tied to comprehension. Instead, certain combinations of sounds seem to resonate with us on an instinctive level, regardless of linguistic background. Phonaesthetics highlights a universal aspect of human communication, showing that the acoustics of language can evoke attraction, emotion and aesthetic appreciation across linguistic boundaries.”