'Diaphanous' crowned the most beautiful English word

NPR | By Kathryn Fink,

Mallory Yu

Published June 18, 2026 at 4:56 PM EDT

As part of a collaboration between the Poetry Society of America and Babbel, 1,500 poets and poetry lovers weighed in on the most beautiful word in the English language, crowning "diaphanous."

Kathryn Fink

Kathryn Fink is a producer with NPR's All Things Considered.

Mallory Yu

See stories by Mallory Yu

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