An onomatopoeia is a word “which imitates the natural sounds of a thing. It creates a sound effect that mimics the thing described….” [1]
Bees buzz, cows moo, horses whinny, etc.
However, there are some words that sound so much not like what they mean that you can get yourself in trouble using them.
For instance, the word pulchritudinous sounds more like the symptom of an infectious disease than a compliment. If you say:
“My, what a pulchritudinous woman you are!”
to your date, chances are you’re going to get slapped – even though you shouldn’t. Pulchritudinous actually means:
“having great physical beauty.” [2]
Huh? Who, how, and why, we ask ourselves, would someone come up with such an ugly-sounding word to describe beauty?
Inquiring minds want to know. [3]
[1] Source: literarydevices.net.
[2] I suggest you tell anyone you’re going to describe as “pulchritudinous” what the word means before you use it.
Source: vocabulary.com.
[3] And did he ever have a date?
