A Favorite Word: Delight

I love the word delight. It can function as a noun or a verb, which makes it a more actionable word to me than its close synonym joy. That isn’t to say joy isn’t also a wonderful word, but just saying or thinking delight makes me smile to myself.

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I think it’s because it embodies not just joy, but also pleasure, satisfaction, and happiness too. It’s a precision word choice, one that evokes a specific connotation when called to mind, a word whose meaning isn’t flattened like “happy” or, really “joy” can be.

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  AJ's Serendipity

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  Be Mine

I don’t use the word much in my writing. I did a search of my files, and it’s only been used in AJ’s Serendipity and Be Mine, and AJ in AJ’s Serendipity uses it frequently when referring to his love Samara. An example is as follows:

“All of you is beautiful,” AJ said quietly. “I’ve had a hell of a time trying to keep my hands in respectable places as it is.”

[Samara’s] cheeks reddened even as a smile stretched her lips. “AJ.”

“Seriously,” he said, smiling a little. “You are a delight that I want to savor.”

I think this section gets to the heart of why I like delight so much. It’s a sensual word. There is always a visceral experience involved whenever the word delight is used. Joy can be a state of being, an incredible one at that, but joy can be a passive and active experience. Delight, I think, can only be actively experienced. Even if you’re not directly involved in the delight, there is still a sensory engagement within you that joy, I don’t think, requires. Think of the following sentence constructions:

• “This gives them joy.”
• “That makes them happy.”
• “You delight me.”

For joy to be active, we have to change the word completely to enjoy—and even then, enjoy isn’t a one-to-one equivalent to joy. Happy is an adjective, so it will always describe a person, place, or thing. But delight is dynamic, a multitasker of a word that can be whatever you need it to be when necessary.

I’m actually glad I don’t hear it so often in everyday language. I think English speakers know it is a word that has a defined role in our lexicon, not to be used unless absolutely required. And so, as I continue to write my romances and mainstream fiction, I aim to provide my characters with enough moments that every book from now on will feature the word delight.

For what is loving and being loved if not delightful?