In Connecticut, where I live, I awoke this morning to see ice on the pond and snow flurries dancing in the air. I love flurries, and I also love the word flurries. It is one of those magical words that perfectly fits the thing it names.

All words have sounds--or are sounds--whether we speak them aloud or hear them silently in our head. Onomatopoeia (on-uh-mat-uh-PEE-ya) words are those that imitate the sounds they describe, such as buzz, pop, meow, and hiccup. But I'm not talking about those kinds of words. Flurries, after all, don't make any sound at all.

How can a sound describe something soundless? There is another category of words that fit their subject in a more subtle way. Non-auditory onomatopoeia, you could call it. (However, even those kinds of words mimic an imaginary sound, rather than reflect an ineffable quality).

Flurries--say it--is soft and light. The singular, flurry, doesn't have a harsh or heavy consonant in it. No Js or Zs or Ks. Even its vowel sound, short U, is quiet. It doesn't howl, whine, or whoop. The Y sound at the end, the long E sound, is playful.

Flurries. Flying, floating, fluttering flurries. Winter's coming on.

What other words can you think of that fit their subject perfectly? Send us your examples with a brief explanation of why you think the word fits its subject.