Pulchritudinous - what can it possibly mean?

Pulchritudinous. What could this possibly mean? When first I saw this word, I was very confused. It sounds more like a sort of illness, or maybe the unpleasant residue left on a shoe from walking through a puddle of something nasty. Imagine my surprise when I looked in a dictionary! It isn’t anything like that at all! Instead of the word describing something from out of a stinking sewer, or some other unenviable location, it meant that the object being described was very beautiful. I admit, that does make more sense based on context, but where does one draw a line for such clues? This word (to me, at least) has a sort of aura about it, especially after gaining knowledge of the meaning. It seems to draw out my very soul. This is the sort of word that makes one want to dissect it, study it, find out what makes it tick. I must ask you, Reader, to draw out the word in your mind. Go ahead, say it. Pulchritudinous. It seems to want to be drawn out, making the word longer, silkier, like a chiffon scarf lightly fluttering in excitement. To say it seems like a caress upon the ears. To think it is a gentle breeze on a lazy summer afternoon.

Just to know the definition, a sweet hint of enlightenment, makes a world of difference in my perception of a word. At first, it seemed a harsh and unflattering word. Now, I see it as classy, refined, a hint of elegance that raises the level of the literature, whether it is read in an online story or in a prestigious first-edition of a classic work.

Cheers,

Elizabeth

“She was embarrassed even by the thought of the man who possessed that pulchritudinous pair of hands” – Blink to Break the Magic, Chapter 3, Mackenzie L, fanfiction.net

Pulchritudinous

[puhl-kri-tood-n-uh s, -tyood-] 

Adjective

1. Physically beautiful; comely.

1910-15, Americanism; < Latin pulchritūdin- (stem of pulchritūdō) + -ous


Update: 7 Sept. 2015 - After talking about this entry, I realized what it was that made it seem like such a dark word. It seems similar at a glance to "sepulchre" or "putrid", so this may have had something to do with my first impression of the word.

(words: 376)