������һ����ӰԺ�ݲ�

Snap! Buzz! Wham! What are these words? And why do they represent so well the sounds that they represent? Well, those words are called onomatopoeia. Onomatopoeia means the formation of words from the sounds they represent. Words like sizzle and cuckoo are great examples—the word and the sound are the same thing (or quite nearly). You’ll see examples of onomatopoeia written in comic books and scary stories—places where the action and sound take center stage. 

The word onomatopoeia itself, interestingly enough, comes from the Greek word onomatopoiia, which means “word-making.” It comes from the Greek root words onoma, which means word, and the suffix –poios, which means making. 

We use onomatopoeia all the time. Think about common storytelling examples like: 

• The wind swept in with a loud whoosh—
• And the door slammed with a bang! 

There aren’t really other words that serve to stand in for the sounds that we’re trying to describe in those moments, so we say the sounds themselves (to the best of our ability), and the said-sound becomes a word. Just like the told us it would. 

Onomatopoeia Examples (Continued)

But what’s the difference between the onomatopoeia word and the sound itself? Why don’t we just call words like snap, buzz, and wham sounds? Why do we even need another category called onomatopoeia to describe these words? They’re just sounds, aren’t they? 

But that’s not true. 

You can think of it in another way: if you say “bang,” and you intend to mean the sound of a door loudly slamming, you yourself are not a door. And thus, you cannot loudly slam in that same way. You have to approximate the sound of a door loudly slamming with your own human voice, with which you make words. You can just make sounds with your voice, of course, but if you’re describing the sound of a door slamming in a sentence with other words, the sound that you make becomes a word, by the virtue of the nature of its use. 

Isn’t this fun? 

Let’s look at more than 100 examples of onomatopoeia to help you get a sense of the way that these words work, and how you can use them in a sentence. 

Onomatopoeia Examples

1. Bang

The gunshot went off with a bang. 

2. Crash

He slammed the cymbals together with a loud crash. 

3. Boom

The booms from the bombs were deafening. 

4. Whack

The dog’s tail whacked against the ground.

5. Snap

With every snap of my fingers, I felt the rhythm of the song even more. 

6. Crack

The crack of thunder hit our ears, and when we turned, we saw lightning spill down the sky. 

7. Pop

The champagne bottle popped and the cork flew across the room. 

8. Fizz

The fizz of my soda against the ice in my drink was the only thing I wanted to concentrate on, even though he was trying to talk to me from the other side of the table. 

9. Sizzle

Bacon sizzling in the pan woke me up, and I remembered that I was safe, home, and my mother was in the kitchen cooking us breakfast. 

10. Buzz

These flies have got to stop buzzing around me or I’m going to swat one! 

11. Hiss

The street cat hisses at me, even when I give her food—she really doesn’t trust humans. 

12. Clap

The clap of the horse’s hooves on the dirt path picked up as we started picking up the pace. 

13. Roar

The ocean’s roar reminded me that we had better move before the storm settled in. 

14. Bark

This dog’s bark is ferocious! 

15. Meow

When the cat meows at me, I feel like I really know what he’s saying. 

Onomatopoeia Examples (Continued)

16. Moo

The cow’s moo is hollow and abrasive, not at all like what I pictured as a child. 

17. Quack

The ducks in our neighborhood line up and cross the street together for safety, quacking the entire way to make sure no one gets out of line. 

18. Baa

Every sheep in the field said “baa” as it passed us, hanging off the fence with the dogs underfoot. 

19. Ribbit

A million ribbits filled the night and we realized we were standing over a pond full of frogs. 

20. Woof

Walking down the sidewalk, I was assaulted by the loudest woofs from the other side of the fence, a dog’s frothing mouth pushing through the pickets. 

21. Honk

When a goose honks at you, it’s best to go to the other side of the path! 

22. Ding

The timer dinged and I was so grateful to be done with that pop quiz. 

List Continued

23. Dong

The ding-dong of the bells is always so cheery at Christmastime. 

24. Jingle

The change in my pocket jingled, and I realized I might have enough to grab a quick coffee. 

25. Chime

The sound of my mother’s chimes let me know that the wind was blowing—and that I should close the windows before the rain. 

26. Tinkle

The small bells on the hem of the girl’s dress tinkled as she danced with the other toddlers on the floor. 

27. Slap

He slapped the desk, stood up, and said, “I’ve had enough!” 

28. Thud

Margaret dropped her bags with a thud and hung her head in shame. 

29. Thump

Steven thumped Greg on the back. “Chin up,” he said. 

30. Swish

The swish of the dancer’s dress enchanted us all as she twirled around the floor. 

Onomatopoeia Examples (Continued)

31. Splash

We hadn’t expected to see a dolphin, but he splashed in front of us, showing off, all the same. 

32. Drip

Larry, if that faucet drips one more time, I’m leaving this house and never coming back! 

33. Drop

Each drop of rain the bucket echoed off the metal pail. 

34. Plop

So, you just plop the pancake batter in the pan, and wait for it to spread out for you. 

35. Gurgle

The gurgling baby had a small bubble of spit on his lips. 

36. Burp

If you can’t stop burping every time you eat, how can we ever have company over? 

37. Glug

He’s really glugging down that whole bottle of Mountain Dew! 

38. Slosh

My shoes are sloshing full of water—please, just let me stop and dump them out. 

39. Fwoosh

Fwoosh, the airplane took off overhead. 

40. Whoosh

The whoosh of the bat’s wings in my ears scared me so much I screamed. 

41. Whirl

The whirling wind blew a small tornado of leaves at our feet. 

42. Zip

The first zip of my winter coat always reminds me that snow is coming. 

List Continued

43. Zing

That comment really zings! 

44. Whip

The seawind whipped the shore and tore the beach umbrellas to shreds. 

45. Creak

Creaking doors send shivers down her spine. 

Onomatopoeia Examples (Continued)

46. Squeak

Mice squeak and scatter across the floor. 

47. Groan

The old wooden floor boards groan underfoot. 

48. Grunt

The dog grunted as he plopped down on the rug and blew air out of his nose. 

49. Snarl

Tommy’s chihuahua snarls every time I try to pet him! 

50. Growl

I’m very afraid of the sound of a growling animal. 

51. Purr

What a pleasant, purring kitty cat! 

52. Hoot

The hooting owl signaled the coming of midnight. 

53. Tweet

Little birdies love to tweet outside my window. 

54. Chirp

Baby chicks chirp and wait for their mother to feed them. 

55. Caw

The cawing crow eyed me from across the road. 

56. Cluck

Pleasant, clucking chickens surrounding the children at the petting zoo. 

57. Splash

The water and soap splashed in the glass. 

58. Swoosh

Watch the basketball swoosh through the net! 

60. Crackle

The crackling fire warmed the room. 

Onomatopoeia Examples (Continued)

62. Tick

The clock’s ticking made me want to get up and leave. 

63. Tock 

The tick-tock of the metronome kept us all on rhythm 

64. Blip

It was just a blip on the radar! Not a real alarm! 

65. Whir 

The whirring fan blew the paper around the room. 

66. Plink

I dropped each stone into the pond with a plink. 

67. Ping

The water pinged as it fell into the gutter. 

68. Zing

Every zing of the shuttle across the board was a thrill! 

69. Splat

The batter fell into the pan with a pleasing splat. 

70. Squish

I squished the conditioner into my hair. 

71. Sprinkle

I listened to the sprinkle of the rain on the roof. 

72. Clang

Clang, clang, clang went the bell! 

List Continued

73. Chomp

Check out how that turtle chomps into that lettuce. 

74. Nom

Om nom nom—I love sandwiches. 

75. Bloop

And then with a little bloop, the bean popped out of the pod. 

Onomatopoeia Examples (Continued)

76. Blare

The trumpet’s blare was tinny in the morning fog. 

77. Rumble

Thunder rumbled over the plain. 

78. Gush

That fountain is gushing all over the place! 

79. Sputter

The car sputtered to start and took off. 

80. Skitter

The skittering, dry leaves sound like autumn. 

81. Rattle

Fake skeleton bones rattled in the hall of the haunted house. 

82. Clatter

Wooden shutters clatter against the side of the house in the rain. 

83. Clamor 

The bells’ clamor startled the churchgoers. 

84. Clangor 

The clangor of the gong in the plaza made the women rush indoors. 

85. Munch

He’s really munching on that salad, isn’t he? 

List Continued

86. Slurp

It’s nice to slurp your noodles in the pho restaurant! 

87. Wheeze

His wheezing cough kept me up all night. 

88. Ahem

That “ahem” really got everyone’s attention. 

89. Cough

“Cough, cough,” he said, and I knew he wanted me to look at the people on the other side of the room. 

90. Pitter-patter

Oh, I just can’t wait to hear the pitter-patter of little feet down the hall. 

Onomatopoeia Examples (Continued)

91. Titter

The tittering of those girls is driving me mad! 

92. Murmur

The soft murmur of the waves on the shore is healing me. 

93. Whisper

Shh, I want to hear the whispers. 

94. Yip

The dog yipped when the man grabbed his tail. 

95. Yowl

That dog’s yowl is breaking my heart. 

96. Yippee

Yippee! Let’s play! 

97. Oink

The pigs are oinking in the barnyard. 

98. Snicker

His persistent snickers are getting under my skin. 

99. Squee

Squee! I love this place! 

100. Bawl

She was bawling into her shawl. 

Onomatopoeia Examples (Continued)

101. Whimper 

The dog whimpered on the other side of the gate. 

102. Beep 

The truck’s beep signaled it was backing up. 

103. Flick

With the flick of his wand, the wizard saved my life. 

104. Neigh

The horse neighed and leapt out of its enclosure. 

105. Trill

The trilling buzzer sent us all home in disappointment. 

106. Boing 

Boing, boing, boing, the ball fell down the stairs. 

107. Bump 

The two stones collided with a gentle bump. 

108. Hack 

He hacked through the wood with a sharp hatchet. 

109. Clink 

Clink! We touched the rim of our champagne glasses and toasted the new couple. 

110. Jangle 

The copper pots and pans jangled in the back of the caboose as the train rolled over the tracks. 

111. Tapping

“’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door—Only this and nothing more.”

112. Mew

The calf let out a soft and gentle mew. 

113. Kaboom 

All the sudden—kaboom!—something fell down the stairs and the lights went out. 

114. Coo

The new mother coos gently at her baby. 

115. Puff

Puff puff. Puff puff. He smoked slowly and stared at his cigarette. 

Onomatopoeia Examples (Continued)

116. Hum

The radiator gently hummed. 

117. Knock 

Knock knock! Let me in! 

118. Chatter

His chattering teeth gave us away—we were all freezing, it was true. 

119. Gasp

Gasp! I never knew! 

120. Mumble

Would you stop mumbling and speak up already? 

121. Pow

Gunshots went off in the alley next door—pow pow! 

122. Toot

Toot! Toot! The train came around the bend with a cheery hello. 

123. Zzz

Zzz. Zzz. Richard snored all night long. 

124. Warble

The warbling nightbirds filled the forest with sound. 

125. Achoo 

Achoo! He sneezed into his handkerchief and said goodbye. 

Additional Resources

•  Alliteration Examples 
• 101 Common Phrasal Verbs
• 60 Best Metaphor Examples
• 400 Glorious Adjectives to Describe People