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Ethereal vs Mellifluous - What's the difference?

ethereal | mellifluous |

As adjectives the difference between ethereal and mellifluous

is that ethereal is pertaining to the hypothetical upper, purer air, or to the higher regions beyond the earth or beyond the atmosphere; celestial; otherworldly; as, ethereal space; ethereal regions while mellifluous is flowing like honey.

ethereal

English

Alternative forms

* aethereal * aetherial * * (obsolete) * * (obsolete)

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Pertaining to the hypothetical upper, purer air, or to the higher regions beyond the earth or beyond the atmosphere; celestial; otherworldly; as, ethereal space; ethereal regions.
  • * 1667 : , Paradise Lost , book VII
    • Go, heavenly guest, ethereal messenger.
  • * 1862 : , Walking .
    • I trust that we shall be more imaginative, that our thoughts will be clearer, fresher, and more ethereal , as our sky,...
  • Consisting of ether; hence, exceedingly light or airy; tenuous; spiritlike; characterized by extreme delicacy, as form, manner, thought, etc.
  • * 1733 : , An Essay on Man
    • Vast chain of being, which from God began, Natures ethereal , human, angel, man.
  • Delicate, light and airy.

    • Derived terms

    * ethereality * ethereally * etherealness * etherealization * etherealisation * etherealizing

    References

    * American English forms

    mellifluous

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Flowing like .
  • Sweet, smooth and musical; pleasant to hear (generally used of a person's voice, tone or writing style).
  • * 1915 , ":
    • "You should read Spanish," he said. "It is a noble tongue. It has not the mellifluousness of Italian, Italian is the language of tenors and organ-grinders, but it has grandeur: it does not ripple like a brook in a garden, but it surges tumultuous like a mighty river in flood."

    Usage notes

    Mellifluous (like honey) is more likely to be applied to a person’s writing style while would only be appropriate for describing audible tone, voice or tenor.

    Synonyms

    * (Sweet and smooth style) (l), (l)

    Related terms

    * superfluous