English
What is onomatopoeia?
Quick answer
Onomatopoeia is a word that sounds like the noise it describes, such as buzz, splash, sizzle, bang or hiss.
In one sentence
Onomatopoeia is the use of words that imitate the sound of the thing they describe.
Explained
Say buzz slowly. The word itself sounds a bit like a bee. That is onomatopoeia (say it on-oh-mat-oh-PEE-a). The long name comes from Greek words meaning "name-making".
Onomatopoeic words cover all sorts of sounds:
- animals: moo, oink, quack, hiss, woof, purr, tweet, buzz
- water: splash, drip, gurgle, splosh, trickle
- collisions: bang, crash, thud, smash, clang, thump
- air and movement: whoosh, swish, whizz, zoom, flutter
- food and cooking: sizzle, crunch, pop, fizz, slurp
- machines and objects: tick-tock, beep, ding, click, whirr
Many of these words work as verbs as well as noises: The fire crackled. The bee buzzed past. That makes them useful in stories, not just in comic-book speech bubbles.
Writers use onomatopoeia to let readers hear a scene: Rain drummed on the roof, the kettle hissed, and somewhere a door creaked. In poetry it adds rhythm and fun, and it often teams up with alliteration: the slap and slosh of the sea.
A fun fact for multilingual families: different languages hear sounds differently. An English dog says woof, a Spanish dog says guau and a Japanese dog says wan wan. Onomatopoeia imitates sounds, but each language does it in its own way.
bee
drum
bell
Examples
- The pan sizzled as the onions went in.
- Crunch! went the leaves under our boots.
- The clock ticked in the silent room.
- With a whoosh, the rocket shot upwards.
- The cat purred on my lap.
Common mistakes
- Thinking any loud word counts. Loud and noisy describe sound but do not imitate it.
- Overloading a sentence: Bang! Crash! Boom! Smash! can work in a comic, but in a story one well-chosen sound is stronger.
- Spelling them oddly every time. Many have standard spellings: whoosh, sizzle, splash. Invent new ones only when no standard word fits.
Quick quiz
Onomatopoeia
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Question 1 of 4
Which word is onomatopoeia?
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Related topics
Alliteration
Alliteration is when several words close together start with the same sound, like six silly snakes or big brown bear. It makes writing catchy and memorable.
Rhyme
Words rhyme when their ending sounds match, like cat and hat, or light and bite. Rhymes depend on sound, not spelling.
Similes
A simile compares one thing to another using like or as, such as as brave as a lion or her eyes shone like stars.
Personification
Personification gives human qualities or actions to things that are not human, like The wind howled or The sun smiled down on us.
Adjectives
An adjective is a word that describes a noun, telling you what kind, which one or how many, like a huge elephant, a sour lemon or three red balloons.
Adverbs
An adverb gives more information about a verb, adjective or another adverb, telling how, when, where or how often, like slowly, tomorrow, outside or always.