Today I have a new favorite word. Numinous. It sounds so exotic and despite the admonition not to use too many adjectives I must use this somewhere.
The definition on the site where I found it, There's a Word for That gave their own definition but I looked it up... because I'm a purist.
This is from the Merriam-Webster site:
Numinous
- supernatural, mysterious
- filled with a sense of the presence of divinity : holy
- appealing to the higher emotions or to the aesthetic sense : spiritual
The synonyms for it are interesting as well, although from the definition, I disagree with a few of those. Still, a very interesting word to work into my writing, I think.
The other word I ran across was hireath, a Welsh word. A couple of sources defined hireath as homesickness for a home to which you cannot return, which may never have existed, grief for the lost places of your past. The definition from The University of Wales website is:
hireath
1. homesickness n.m.f. grief or sadness after the lost or departed n. (hiraethau) longing n.m. (hiraethau) yearning n.m. (hiraethau) nostalgia n.m. (hiraethau) wistfulness n.m. (hiraethau) earnest desire n.m. (hiraethau)
This is such profound word for me. I do not know why the word speaks so loudly but I have a sense that I know this feeling and that it fits so many things far better than simple homesickness.
Do find any particular words compelling or irresistible?
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