mellifluous

comparative more mellifluous · superlative most mellifluous

1. Flowing like honey.

   Though in heaven the trees / Of life ambrosial fruitage bear, and vines / Yield nectar; though from off the boughs each morn / VVe brush mellifluous devvs, and find the ground / Cover'd vvith pearly grain[…]

   1671, John Milton, “(please specify the page)”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC

2. figurativelySweet, smooth and musical; pleasant to hear (generally used of a person's voice, tone or writing style).

   His [Roy Orbison's] iconic look, mellifluous croon and timeless songwriting means that he retains a strong fanbase.

   2017 October 20, Ben Beaumont-Thomas, “In dreams: Roy Orbison hologram to embark on UK tour in 2018”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC

   5 more examples

   […] Socrates […] VVisest of men; from vvhose mouth issued forth / Mellifluous streams that vvater'd all the schools / Of Academicks old and nevv […]

   1671, John Milton, “(please specify the page)”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC

   Join'd to Theſe [birds], / Thouſands beſide, thick as the covering Leaves / VVhich ſpeck them o'er, their Modulations mix / Mellifluous.

   1728, [James] Thomson, Spring. A Poem, […] A[ndrew] Millar, […]; and G[eorge] Strahan, […], →OCLC, pages 30–31

   No verses can be more mellifluous than Petrarch's: something of this will perhaps be attributed to the softness of the Italian language; but the English tongue is also capable of it, however obstinately Johnson may have pronounced otherwise.

   1853, Sir Egerton Brydges, Life of Milton

   The only novels with which the weary Titan refreshes his mind are those of Thackeray, sometimes of Trollope; the more frivolous sometimes go so far as to sip a little of the honey that falls from the mellifluous lips of Mr A. C. Benson.

   1918, Walter Lionel George, A Novelist on Novels

   Certainly, he [Richard Ashcroft] returns explicitly to the sound of Urban Hymns on his fourth solo album: neat, sad strings, unhurried percussion and his mellifluous foghorn of a voice.

   2016 May 19, Rachel Aroesti, “Richard Ashcroft: These People review”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC

   Synonyms: birdsweet, dulcet, euphonious, mellifluent