Dulcet has many linguistic ancestors, including the Latin dulcis, Anglo-French douz, and Middle English doucet—all meaning "sweet." The dulcet dulcis has contributed many sweet terms to English. Among these are the musical direction dolce ("to be played sweetly, softly"), Dulciana (a type of pipe organ stop made up of flue pipes), dolcian (a small bassoon-like instrument used in the 16th and 17th centuries), and dulcimer (an American folk instrument). On a similar note, the word dulcify means "to make sweet," and the adjective doux, derived from Old French douz, is used in wine circles to describe champagne that is sweet.
the dulcet tones of her voice although she flashed a dulcet smile, she was secretly seething with resentment
Recent Examples on the WebThe first teaser for Distant Lands featured the soft, dulcet tones of BMO singing a song, as performed by voice actor Niki Yang, and the clip reveals more of the on-screen tune.EW.com, 11 June 2020 Somewhere, a Bluetooth speaker was stashed away and playing the kind of soft, dulcet melodies heard in expensive spas.New York Times, 6 Dec. 2019 But inside and down a few stairs, there is faint, dulcet chanting piped through speakers. Written By Kaya Laterman; Photographs By Mark Abramson, New York Times, 22 Dec. 2017 The dulcet tones of Kylie Jenner's secret album made with input from Kanye and Tyga? Sarah Lindig, Cosmopolitan, 12 June 2015
Word History
Etymology
Middle English doucet, from Anglo-French, from duz, douz sweet, from Latin dulcis; perhaps akin to Greek glykys sweet