Flowing with a fell or cruel quality; having a smooth but malevolent tone or manner.
Formed from 'fell' (meaning cruel or fierce) combined with the Latin suffix '-fluous' (meaning flowing), similar to 'mellifluous.' This is a rare, poetic word that inverts the sweetness of its better-known cousin.
This word is almost never used today, but it's a brilliant example of how English speakers in the 1600s-1700s would intentionally create dark mirror-images of common words—taking 'mellifluous' (sweet-flowing) and making it sinister instead!
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