Strong words
A prof of mine at Eastern Mennonite University thought the most beautiful words in English were cellar door. I thought the term could be made slightly more picturesque if one added bougainvillea by the cellar door.
As for strength, I like four-letter words. More on that in a later blog. Here I will call attention to the strength of words ending in -ious. I think these words carry lots of freight although many of them are not used “on the street.”
audacious — daring, bold
bodacious — remarkable, noteworthy, sexy
capricious — impulsive, unpredictable
deleterious — harmful, injurious
efficacious — effective
fastidious — neat, orderly
gracious — kind, tactful, compassionate
hellacious — powerful, violent, difficult
ignominious — shameful, degrading
judicious — having sound judgment
loquacious — talkative, garrulous
malicious — desiring to harm others
nefarious — wicked, infamous
obstinacious — stubborn
perfidious — treacherous
quisquillious — trashy, worthless
rapacious — greedy, ravenous
sagacious — perceptive, wise
tedious — tiresome, uninteresting
ubiquious — omnipresent
voracious — ravenous, insatiable
I found more than a thousand words ending in -ious. A few of them I could do without, such as precious. But many I’d consider bodacious.
Good words…I’m acquainted with most of them (though a few, I will admit, are outside of the normal range of everyday use). Could be that a prof at Goshen College familiarized me with a few of them!
Jane, after these many years the voices of students remain with me. By voices I include essays, class discussions and sidewalk conversations. What a privilege to have known all of you on campus. Surely your voices influenced mine.