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harmonious

UK/hɑːˈməʊni.əs/US/hɑɹˈmoʊni.əs/
adjectiveB2+2 meaningsOccasional — familiar, but not everyday · #11,309 of 15,258leans written

Harmonious means fitting together pleasantly, whether in sound or in dealings between people. Nothing clashing.

Music has the literal sense, where harmonious notes sound well together. The commoner use is about relationships, so a harmonious workplace and harmonious relations between neighbours are both free of friction. Design borrows it for colour and proportion. The noun harmony covers all of it, and living in harmony is the fixed phrase. Its opposite in music is discordant, and in human terms it is simply fractious.

Definitions of harmonious

  1. 1adjectiveharmoniousFree from disagreement and working well together.B2+

    “The two departments enjoy a harmonious relationship.”

  2. 2adjectivepleasingPleasing in sound or arrangement.B2

    “The bells made a surprisingly harmonious noise.”

Where it comes from

  1. Proto-Indo-European

    *h₂er-

  2. Middle French

    harmonieux

  3. English, today

    harmonious

From Middle French harmonieux; by surface analysis, harmony + -ous.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in A Man Called Ove, Word Building

First appears in chapter 3 of A Man Called Ove.

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Related words

  • harmony