Discover our guide full of deep words with meaning to drive home key points in your writing to convey a strong message to your readers, every word counts.
When you watch a film, you know when a scene matters. The tone of the actors’ voices, the music, and the volume can all tell you that it’s time to pay attention. It can be a little harder to let your readers know something big is happening when you’re writing. Using deep aesthetic words with meaning can help your readers realize you’re revealing something pivotal to your plot.
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What Are Deep Words With Meaning?

Every word matters in your writing, and it’s key to strike a balance between phrases that move a story forward and beautiful words that strike a chord with your readers. While you utilize English deep words with meaning sparingly, they’ll do the job of emphasizing key parts of the story without overwhelming your readers.
Abomination | Hydra | Plethora |
Absquatulate | Imbroglio | Psithurism |
Ascendant | Incandescence | Pugnacious |
Beguile | Indoctrinate | Pusillanimousstar |
Benevolent | Ineffable | Pyrrhic |
Bountiful | Insouciance | Quintessential |
Bubbly | Inured | Rapturous |
Chivalrous | Iridescent | Sanguine |
Conscientious | Jubilant | Saturnine |
Contumacious | Labyrinthine | Schwellenangst |
Dazzling | Lacuna | Serendipity |
Denouement | Languid | Somnambulist |
Desiderium | Languishing | Sonder |
Desuetude | Lassitude | Sonorous |
Distinguished | Luminescence | Surreptitious |
Dystopian | Malefactor | Syzygy |
Eccedentesiast | Mellifluous | Taciturn |
Ecstatic | Mondegreen | Toska |
Effervescent | Morose | Tranquil |
Electrifying | Nefarious | Unrequited |
Enlightened | Nemesis | Untoward |
Estrange | Omnipotent | Unwavering |
Fugacious | Panacea | Vellichor |
Harmonious | Petrichor | Visceral |
Hikikomori | Pettifog | Wanderlust |
Hiraeth | Phosphenes | Woebegone |
Positive Deep Words with Meaning
Use these positive deep words with meaning when trying to convey a warm, positive tone to your readers. Placing these words in a character map before the start of your writing process can help drive your story.
1. Ascendant
The young mayor was quickly becoming ascendant within his political party and was planning a run for the state senate.
2. Benevolent
The benevolent shop owner happily unlocked the doors for the family even though it was past closing time.
3. Bountiful
The bountiful harvest on the farm meant that the Epler family would surpass last year’s profits.
4. Bubbly
Stephanie’s bubbly personality made it easy for her to make friends with new running club members.
5. Chivalrous
He was undoubtedly chivalrous, pulling out her chair and standing up each time she left the table.
6. Conscientious
Hannah appreciated her employee’s conscientiousness as he double-checked the guest list for the event.
7. Dazzling
Her smile was beautiful, but her personality was the most dazzling thing about her.
8. Denouement
The denouement of the film sublimely tied up all the questions the audience still had about the protagonist’s relationship with her mother.
9. Distinguished
Alumnus of the Year was a distinguished award recognizing a graduate’s above-and-beyond commitment to making a difference in their community.
10. Ecstatic
She was ecstatic to get off the plane and finally be reunited with her family.
11. Effervescent
The effervescent young family brought a joyful tone to the neighborhood.
12. Electrifying
The energy in the audience was electrifying as the band finally took the stage.
13. Enlightened
The enlightened author was excited to share his thoughts on living a happier life in his first self-help guide.
14. Harmonious
The couple lived a harmonious life, enjoying time together each morning and relaxing together in the evenings.
15. Incandescence
The streetlights created a glistening incandescence across the newly fallen snow.
16. Ineffable
The new father’s joy at holding his newborn daughter for the first time was ineffable.
17. Iridescent
The little boy smiled as he watched the incandescent bubbles float through the air.
18. Jubilant
The jubilant choir grew excited as they saw the crowd begin to form at the park where they were to perform their Christmas concert.
19. Luminescence
The luminescence of the aurora borealis was breathtaking over the stark Alaskan landscape.
20. Mellifluous
The instructor’s voice had a mellifluous quality, making paying attention to the training easy.
21. Omnipotent
While the CEO was powerful, he wasn’t omnipotent–and the whistleblower knew he’d have him cornered once he presented his findings to the board.
22. Panacea
She thought moving away from her hometown would be a panacea for all her problems.
23. Petrichor
Delilah opened the windows in the morning to let the petrichor from last night’s rain infiltrate the house.
24. Plethora
A plethora of snacks were on the table for the hungry kids after an afternoon of playing outside.
25. Psithurism
As the mother and son enjoyed their hike, they stopped to listen to the psithurism that was present throughout the forest.
26. Quintessential
She was the quintessential politician’s wife, with polished hair, a conservative business suit, and a never-chipped manicure.
27. Rapturous
The crowd responded to his violin performance with rapturous applause.
28. Sanguine
Despite the rocky start to their vacation, David was sanguine about how the rest of the trip would go.
29. Serendipity
The two crossing paths on the running trail was a moment of serendipity, as they thought they’d never see each other again.
30. Sonder
As she wandered through the London train station, she felt a sense of sonder as she grew curious about where her fellow travelers were headed.
31. Sonorous
His voice was sonorous as he walked to the podium and addressed the attentive crowd.
32. Syzygy
As he worked with his daughter to help her process the breakup, he had to utilize his sense of syzygy to provide tough love and empathy.
33. Tranquil
The lake was tranquil and provided Rose with a sense of peace.
34. Unwavering
Her unwavering support of her best friend made it clear that she was in it for the long haul.
35. Vellichor
Hope felt a sense of vellichor as she touched the pages of the century-old novel, wondering who else drew inspiration from the author’s work.
36. Wanderlust
Otto was hit with a sense of wanderlust after his cross-country drive.
Negative Deep Words with Meaning
Using these words to convey a negative tone can help draw your reader into a tense situation. These words can be used to describe situations, settings, and characters.
37. Abomination
Human resources declared that Jim’s refusal to comply with the organization’s vacation request rules was an abomination of company policy.
38. Absquatulate
He absquatulated his financial advisor role after being convicted of insider trading.
39. Beguile
Matt was known for beguiling clients into believing his art was worth millions.
40. Contumacious
Jeremy’s refusal to obey the restraining order was contumacious to the court.
41. Desuetude
The abandoned restaurant sadly fell into desuetude over time.
42. Desiderium
As she glanced over the town that the hurricane had destroyed, she felt a sense of desiderium as she considered all the memories she had made there.
43. Dystopian
The scorched landscape looked dystopian, and the people of the community wondered if it would ever be restored to its once-lively state.
44. Eccedentesiast
A practiced eccedentesiast, Ashley had no problem faking a smile despite her seething anger.
45. Estrange
Sadly, the two sisters became estranged over time, as they couldn’t agree with their deceased mother’s estate.
46. Hikikomori
After months of being confined to her home after a diagnosis of mononucleosis, Janelle felt a strong sense of hikikomori and couldn’t wait to be back on the town with her friends.
47. Hiraeth
As she drove through North Carolina to her vacation home in Florida, she felt hiraeth for her home state.
48. Hydra
The security breach became a hydra of problems, and the board met almost continuously for a week as they worked to find a way to get the company’s reputation back on track.
49. Imbroglio
The lawyer’s imbroglio wasn’t just embarrassing–it would also cost him some of his best clients.
50. Indoctrinate
The company orientation seemed to have the goal of indoctrinating new hires into a work-life balance that didn’t feel balanced at all.
51. Insouciance
She was annoyed at his insouciance as she spoke about whether their relationship would stand the test of time.
52. Inured
Unfortunately, the siblings had become inured to the lack of their father’s presence at home and were surprised when he did happen to show up.
53. Fugacious
As she looked at pictures from years prior, she realized her youthful skin was fugacious, and considered reaching out to a plastic surgeon to talk about turning back the clock.
54. Labyrinthine
Navigating the streets of Venice was challenging, as the labyrinthine nature of the city was quite different from the grid structure of New York City that Robin was used to.
55. Lacuna
Sadly, the traveler’s journal left a lacuna over the period he explored Polynesia.
56. Languid
Anthony became frustrated with his son’s languid nature, as the teenager often preferred to take an hour or so to get moving in the morning.
57. Languishing
Over the past decade, the company’s languishing profits made founders nervous about their financial future.
58. Lassitude
Despite her commitment to finishing the triathlon, she was overcome by a sense of lassitude after the swim.
59. Malefactor
He was the clear malefactor in the case; it was obvious that he purposefully deceived the company’s shareholders.
60. Mondegreen
She felt silly when he corrected her mondegreen, but it explained how much had been lost in translation during their conversation.
61. Morose
Despite Oscar’s attempts to make Jan smile, she had a morose demeanor throughout the evening.
62. Nefarious
His nefarious ways made rooting for the team to succeed almost impossible.
63. Nemesis
When the general stepped onto the battlefield, he was surprised that his nemesis had also decided to join the fight with his soldiers.
64. Pettifog
The two pettifogged for hours, going on about arguments that didn’t matter.
65. Phosphenes
As the phosphenes expanded when she closed her eyes, she grew increasingly concerned about her recently diagnosed neurological condition.
66. Pugnacious
The political climate in the country today has resulted in an increasingly pugnacious group of voters.
67. Pusillanimousstar
She was a pusillanimousstar, as she knew that she should stand up to her boss, but she couldn’t find the courage.
68. Pyrrhic
While the soldiers won the battle, it was pyrrhic at best–far too many men died for what was likely to be an inconsequential victory.
69. Saturnine
The day was saturnine, and finding the energy to get moving under the gloomy clouds was hard.
70. Schwellenangst
When it was time to get off the plane, she felt a terrifying sense of schwellenangst at the thought of starting over in a new country.
71. Somnambulist
As a somnambulist, Bruno was often frustrated when he woke up in a new location after a less-than-restful night of sleepwalking.
72. Surreptitious
The criminals carried on their surreptitious activity under cover of darkness.
73. Taciturn
Despite her date’s attempts to ask her about her feelings, she remained taciturn and refused to share any information.
74. Toska
As she watched her family drive away after dropping her off at college, she felt a sense of toska for the childhood she was leaving behind.
76. Unrequited
It wasn’t the first time his heart felt the pain of unrequited love, but losing Chloe seemed to hit a little harder than his other heartbreaks.
76. Untoward
Bob’s behavior toward the female employees was untoward, and he was asked to leave the event.
77. Visceral
Her pain at losing her grandmother was visceral, but she knew she had to carry on to set an excellent example for the rest of her family.
78. Woebegone
She looked woebegone like she hadn’t caught a wink of sleep and had spent most of the day in tears.
Looking for more? Check out our list of beautiful words related to light!
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