Expressive, melodious, and shaped by personal feeling.
Reach for it when describing music, writing, or art whose emotional flow is songlike rather than argumentative
The film pauses for a lyric passage of wind, water, and unhurried movement.
| everyday | |
|---|---|
| warm | |
| professional | |
| formal | |
| literary |
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everyday
Fits when smooth continuity creates graceful movement
Careful Flowing concerns motion and does not guarantee emotional expression.
everyday
songlike
Fits when plain comparison to song captures the quality
Careful Songlike describes form or sound and may lack personal feeling.
warm
Fits when flowing emotional beauty is the straightforward description
Careful Lyrical is the more common adjective and may make the shorter lyric sound affected.
warm
Fits when imaginative language or beauty deserves broad praise
Careful Poetic can be dense or austere and is not necessarily melodious.
professional
Fits when emotion or meaning is communicated vividly
Careful Expressive can be forceful, angular, or spoken without musical flow.
formal
rhapsodic
Fits when ecstatic enthusiasm gives the work a free musical quality
Careful Rhapsodic is more exuberant and can overstate a quiet lyric passage.
literary
Fits when pleasing succession of musical sound is foremost
Careful Melodious fits sound and cannot fully describe visual or written feeling.
lyric beauty
The small film finds lyric beauty in ordinary repair work.
lyric passage
A lyric passage for solo violin opens the final movement.
lyric quality
Careful repetition gives the essay a lyric quality without obscuring its argument.
Definitions and examples are written for this site. How words are chosen Recording: Wodencafe, American accent, from Wikimedia Commons, CC0 Updated
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