by: busymonkeystudiosPosted on:

Word of the week – Pulchritudinous

pulchritudinous 

adjective
   formal
uk 
 /ˌpʌl.krɪˈtʃuː.dɪ.nəs/ us 
 /ˌpʌl.krəˈtuː.dən.əs/

(especially of a woman) beautiful

SOURCE: Cambridge Dictionary

What a very strange sounding word indeed; a mouthful, an almost guttural sounding word which to me summons up similar sounds such as decrepitude, sepulchre, putridness. Ironic really how such an ugly sounding word can be used to describe a thing of beauty.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary1 the first known usage of this word was in 1706 by playwright Thomas D’Urfey.

“And Madam, to you his..Majesty, presents..a dozen of Frogs pulchritudinous, of Value inestimable, which being dry’d, beaten to a Powder, and drunk in Mornings Dew, have Vertue to renew Youth and Beauty.”2

Here are ten more words I’ve dug out which are oddly ugly sounding but don’t necessarily have ugly meanings:

CREPUSCULAR3 – relating to or like the time of day just before the sun goes down, when the light is not bright. A beautiful image but the word just sounds crappy, obscure, vaguely reminiscent of the word pustule.

EXPUNGE4 – To remove or cause something to be forgotten – summons thoughts of wet, slimy sponges or something pungent which needs to be gotten rid of.

MAGPIE5 – In my opinion, an ugly name for a magnificent bird

MELLIFLUOUS6 – Meaning ‘a pleasant and flowing sound’, though to my ears sounds like something malicious, melancholic, malignant, maleficent.

MOIST7 – Some hate this word but it doesn’t bother me. Meaning something slightly damp or containing wetness.

PETRICHOR8 – the smell of fresh rainfall on dry ground, usually a pleasant experience. I am one of those people who can smell rain before it falls. I love the smell of petrichor but the word itself is not as pleasing. Also according to the word petrichor can relate to, ‘an oily liquid mixture of organic compounds which collects in the ground and is believed to be responsible for this smell.’9

PRAGMATIC10 – Meaning busy, practical, matter-of-fact – but a rough, machine-like sounding word conjuring images of someone who is efficient but perhaps a bit robotic or cold, which in essence is how this word could be interpreted, especially when using in the context of politics.

PUGILIST11 – A boxer or someone who fights – although, violence is never pretty and to some the more violent sports can be repugnant.

QUARK12 – A molecular particle, a type of soft white cheese, the sound a posh duck makes. There is nothing really wrong with this word but for some reason it makes me cringe – perhaps because I equate it to the sound of someone vomitting.

SANGUINE13 – describing a person or their characteristics of being positive and hopeful. For me this word is too close to ‘exsanguinate’ meaning to drain of blood

  1. Pulchritudinous – Oxford English Dictionary https://www.oed.com/dictionary/pulchritudinous_adj?tab=meaning_and_use#27816462 ↩︎
  2. Thomas D’Urfey • Wonders in the sun • 1st edition, 1706 (1 vol.). London: printed for Jacob Tonson SOURCE: Oxford English Dictionary, https://www.oed.com/dictionary/pulchritudinous_adj?tab=meaning_and_use#27816462 ↩︎
  3. Crepuscular, Cambridge Dictionary online – https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/crepuscular ↩︎
  4. Expunge, Cambridge Dictionary online – https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/expunge ↩︎
  5. Magpie, Cambridge Dictionary online – https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/magpie ↩︎
  6. Mellifluous, Cambridge Dictionary online – https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/mellifluous ↩︎
  7. Moist, Cambridge Dictionary online – https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/moist ↩︎
  8. Petrichor, Cambridge Dictionary online – https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/petrichor ↩︎
  9. Petrichor, Oxford English Dictionary online – https://www.oed.com/dictionary/petrichor_n?tab=meaning_and_use ↩︎
  10. Pragmatic, Cambridge Dictionary online – https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/pragmatic ↩︎
  11. Pugilist, Cambridge Dictionary online – https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/pugilist ↩︎
  12. Quark, Cambridge Dictionary online – https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/quark ↩︎
  13. Sanguine, Cambridge Dictionary online – https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/sanguine ↩︎