15 Wonderful Words for Delightful Experiences

Some situations are just too perfect for words, but these bits of lovely lingo will shorten that list ever so slightly.

1. Petrichor

The scent of rain on dry ground. The word was coined in the 1960s by mineralogists studying the chemical composition of that scent. Petr- is the Greek root for stone, and ichor was the word for the blood-like substance in the veins of the Greek gods. So petrichor would be the divine essence of stone. Breathe it in!

2. Eyesome

Easy on the eyes. Attractive.

3. Toothsome

Delicious. There’s nothing better than a meal that is both toothsome and eyesome.

4. Jucundity

Merry enjoyment, delight. Also commonly spelled “jocundity,” but those repeated U’s are so merry and delightful. 

5. Salubrious

Good for the health. Temperate, comfortable, agreeable. A popular word in old-timey tourist brochures, like “Salubrious Southampton,” “Salubrious Singapore,” and “Salubrious Stonehaven: The Sunniest Resort on the Sunny Side of Scotland.” 

6. Voluptuate

To take luxurious pleasure in something. Voluptuate in this list of salubrious words. 

7. Dulciloquent

Having a gentle, sweet way of speaking. From the Latin dulcis, for sweet. If it’s true what they say about catching more flies with honey than with vinegar, being dulciloquent will get you far.

8. Snuggery

A cozy little room—exactly the place you want to be in cold weather!

9. Suaviloquence

Soothing, agreeable speech. Ahhh.

10. Euphony

The quality of sounding good or pleasing to the ear. Usually used for words or sentences. Dulciloquent, suaviloquent, and euphony might be too much good sounding stuff for anyone to bear. 

11. Viscerotonic

Having a comfort-loving, easygoing, social personality. Coined in the 1950s by a psychologist attempting to correlate body type with personality type. People who were viscerotonic, from “viscera” or internal organs, supposedly had over-developed digestive systems. All the better to voluptuate in a toothsome meal. 

12. Adlubescence

Pleasure, enjoyment. From the Latin allubescere, to gratify. Using this word should bring great adlubescence to those who hear it.

13. Oblectament

A source of delight. In Latin, oblectamentum, plural oblectamenta. It’s important to have some oblectamenta in your life.

14. Pulchritudinous

Beautiful. From the Latin for beauty. Many have complained that the related noun pulchritude (beauty) is, ironically, an ugly word. But pulchritudinous is positively euphonious. 

15. Philocalist

A lover of beautiful things. If you are a philocalist, you must love all these pulchritudinous words.

A version of this story ran in 2013; it has been updated for 2020.