Crash, Splash, Gulp! Some of These 55 Examples of Onomatopoeia Might Surprise You
Confused by the oddly-spelled word? Here's the definition of onomatopoeia.
According to Merriam-Webster, onomatopoeia is the naming of a thing or action by a vocal imitation of the sound associated with it. Boing, bang, click, pitter-patter...these are all examples of onomatopoeia. While the spelling is complicated, the definition of onomatopoeia is not a tough one to grasp.
We are unknowingly using onomatopoeia within our everyday conversations. You may use them to describe noises that your pets make. Or, you could use onomatopoeia to explain the behaviors of the weather patterns that day. Any time you refer to a word whose pronunciations imitate the sounds in which they describe, you're using onomatopoeia.
Onomatopoeia is also a very powerful tool for writers. The more you can immerse a reader into the fantasy written world, the better. By utilizing onomatopoeia in writing, the reader is immediately transported into the story. It's very interactive for a reader to hear the sounds and feel the emotions they're trying to invoke in their head.
Still confused about what an onomatopoeia is? Or, maybe you're looking to spruce up your writing with more descriptive words. We've got 55 examples of onomatopoeia listed out below.
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55 Examples of Onomatopoeia
1. Gulp
The soccer team couldn't stop gulping water after their game.
2. Gargle
After brushing her teeth, Sydney gargled with mouthwash.
3. Sizzle
The delicious bacon is sizzling on the skillet.
4. Bang
My favorite part of rock 'n roll concerts is when the drummers start to bang on the drums.
5. Thud
His mom was so angry that she threw the backpack with a loud thud.
6. Crash
The cymbals made an extremely loud crash.
7. Clap
When the performance came to an end, the audience went wild and everybody was clapping their hands.
8. Splash
The ducks flew into the pool and it made a huge splash.
9. Crackle
The wood crackled and smoked as the hot fire continued to burn.
10. Knock
Did you hear that? I think I heard a knock at the door.
11. Tap
Miss Smith continued to tap her fingers nervously along her desk.
12. Hiccup
Winston let out a series of hiccups after chugging three root beers.
13. Snort
I told my husband such a funny joke that his laugh turned into a snort.
14. Slurp
They all slurped on soup for dinner.
15. Sprinkle
You could hear the light sprinkle of a summer sun shower outside.
16. Pop
On the 4th of July, fireworks fill the sky with color and lots of pops.
17. Moo
The cow let out an aggressive moo at the cow-tipping invaders.
18. Chatter
It was so cold outside that Addison's teeth were chattering.
19. Hiss
The snake slithered and hissed around.
20. Hum
She calms herself down by singing a quiet hum to herself.
21. Chirp
It seemed like all of the birds were chirping this morning.
22. Neigh
The horse was so excited to see her owner that she neighed with excitement.
23. Fizz
She opened the bottle and the soda fizzed all over the counter.
24. Woof
Every Monday, my dogs woof crazily at our pool cleaner.
25. Grumble
Henry's stomach was grumbling all through the morning.
26. Bop
With a quick bop on the head, my friend woke me out of my slumber.
27. Quack
Jeffrey shared his bread with the quacking ducks.
28. Purr
Every time I pet him, my cat starts to purr.
29. Smack
When we saw the waitress coming around the corner with our meal, we couldn't help but to smack our lips in anticipation.
30. Roar
Any time a lion lets out its fierce roar, every animal close by can hear it.
31. Ring
I answered the phone after it wouldn't stop ringing off the hook.
32. Rev
People that own sports cars enjoy revving up their engines.
33. Toot
Remaining stationary at a green light warrants you to toot your horn.
34. Rustle
The wind blew and the piles of leaves rustled.
35. Swish
Rhonda's three-pointers always make the net swish effortlessly.
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36. Groan
He fell to the ground and groaned in pain as he grabbed his knee.
37. Squeak
My shoes were wet from the rain and I squeaked all over the house with them.
38. Cluck
The clucking chickens are guaranteed to give you an early wake-up call.
39. Howl
It's a full moon tonight, and I swear I heard the wolves howling at it.
40. Moan
She rolled over on her side and moaned in agony.
41. Oink
The pigs oinked with excitement at the sight of their dinner.
42. Clatter
He knocked the dishes off the tables with a headache-inducing clatter.
43. Burp
Walter let out a loud burp after eating his meal.
44. Slap
She bellyflopped into the deep end with a large slap on her stomach.
45. Beep
I asked him to call my lost phone in case we could hear it beep.
46. Drip
We could hear the drip from the gutters after the rainstorm.
47. Cough
Grandpa couldn't stop coughing in church last Sunday.
48. Babble
The forest was so quiet and serene, all you could hear was the babble of the river.
49. Zip
Once Sara realized how cold it was, she quickly zipped up her jacket.
50. Buzz
Bees are always buzzing around my daisy flowers.
51. Zing
Ty zinged the boomerang across the field with power.
52. Drizzle
It's not pouring rain outside, but there is a light drizzle right now.
53. Thump
I accidentally dropped my backpack with a loud thump and it startled everybody in the classroom.
54. Flap
It was so windy outside that the flag was flapping nonstop.
55. Screech
There is nothing worse than the sound of nails screeching across a chalkboard.
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