Onomatopoeia Definition
What is onomatopoeia? Here’s a quick and simple definition:
Onomatopoeia is a figure of speech in which words evoke the actual
sound of the thing they refer to or describe. The “boom” of a firework
exploding, the “tick tock” of a clock, and the “ding dong” of a doorbell
are all examples of onomatopoeia.
Some additional key details about onomatopoeia:
Onomatopoeia can use real words, made-up words, or just letters used to represent raw
sounds (as “Zzzzzz” represents someone sleeping or snoring).
Advertising, branding, and slogans often use onomatopoeia: “Snap, crackle, pop.”
Onomatopoeia can differ across cultures and languages, even when referring to the
same sound. A dog’s “woof” in English is a dog’s “bau” in Italian (how to say woof in
16 languages).
Onomatopoeia Pronunciation
Here's how to pronounce onomatopoeia: on-uh-mat-uh-pee-uh
The Four Types of Onomatopoeia
Onomatopoeia has a few distinct variants:
Real words that sound like real things
Real words made to evoke the sound of real things
Made-up words that sound like real things
A series of letters that mimic a “raw” sound
Real Words that Sound Like Real Things
This type of onomatopoeia, which we’ll call conventional onomatopoeia, uses words
whose own sound evokes the sound of real things. The word “meow,” which sounds just
like the sound a cat makes when it actually meows, is a classic example of conventional
onomatopoeia. This is by far the most common type of onomatopoeia.
Real Words Made to Evoke the Sound of Real Things
In this rarer type of onomatopoeia, a word or series of words is used to imitate a real-
world sound, even though the words used don’t mimic that sound themselves. Perhaps
the most famous example of this type of onomatopoeia is Edgar Allen Poe’s poem “The
Bells,” in which Poe repeats the word “bell” 62 times to evoke the sound of a bell ringing
and tolling, even though the word “bell” itself does not itself sound like a bell ringing.
Made-up Words that Sound Like Real Things
Made-up words can fill the void when no word exists to sufficiently capture the nuances
of a real-world sound. For example, when James Joyce needed a word to convey the
sound of someone knocking on a door, he invented “tattarrattat.” Today, almost a
hundred years after he coined it in writing his novel Ulysses, “tattarrattat” has become a
legit word (it’s in the Oxford English Dictionary).
A Series of Letters that Mimic a Raw Sound
Sometimes onomatopoeia involves no words at all, as in examples like “Zzzzzz” to
represent the sound of sleeping or snoring, “hachoo” for a sneezing sound, or “tsk-tsk”
or “tut-tut” to convey the scolding sound we make to express disapproval.
How Can You Tell if a Word Qualifies as Onomatopoeia?
There is no definitive test for whether a word qualifies as onomatopoeia. Some words,
like “meow” and “buzz,” are clear examples of onomatopoeia because they’re like
transcriptions of sound spelled out in letters. But other onomatopoeic words are subtler,
such as the words “throbbing” and “moaning,”which appear in the Edgar Allen Poe
poem “The Bells.” Does the word “moan” sound like someone moaning? Does “throb”
sound like a heart beating? Kind of, but not obviously so.
The Onomatopoeia List website has collected hundreds of examples of onomatopoeic
words and lets users vote on their relative onomatopoeia-ness. It can be helpful to
consult their list to get a sense of whether a specific word qualifies as onomatopoeia.
But you can also just make the judgment call for yourself.
Onomatopoeia Examples
Because onomatopoeia can make language so expressive, impactful, and memorable,
it’s used almost everywhere you look, from literature to comics to advertising and more.
Onomatopoeia Examples in Literature
Writers use every type of onomatopoeia—and sometimes more than one type at once—
to help bring characters, images, and scenes to life, as you’ll see in the examples
below.
Onomatopoeia in Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Bells”
Poe’s poem is an onslaught of onomatopoeia. Here in Stanza IV of the poem he
uses conventional onomatopoeia in which words like “throbbing,” “sobbing,” “moaning,”
and “groaning” sound like the thing they refer to or describe. He also uses repetition of
non-onomatopoeic words to create an onomatopoeic effect: repeating “time,” “bell(s),”
and “knells” so many times evokes the tolling sound of a real bell.
Keeping time, time, time,
In a sort of Runic rhyme,
To the throbbing of the bells–
Of the bells, bells, bells–
To the sobbing of the bells;
Keeping time, time, time,
As he knells, knells, knells,
In a happy Runic rhyme,
To the rolling of the bells–
Of the bells, bells, bells–
To the tolling of the bells,
Of the bells, bells, bells, bells–
Bells, bells, bells
To the moaning and the groaning of the bells.
Onomatopoeia in E. E. Cummings’ “I was sitting in mcsorley’s”
In this poem Cummings uses a mix of conventional onomatopoeia (the real words
“tinking” and “slush”) and onomatopoeia with made-up words (“glush,” “ploc,” and
“piddle-of-drops”) to convey the raucous sonic atmosphere of drinks being poured and
people getting sloshed at one of Manhattan’s oldest bars.
the Bar.tinking luscious jigs dint of ripe silver with warm-lyish wetflat
splurging smells waltz the glush of squirting taps plus slush of foam
knocked off and a faint piddle-of-drops she says I ploc spittle...
Onomatopoeia in Shakespeare’s The Tempest
In Act 3, Scene 3 of The Tempest, Caliban uses onomatopoeia to convey the noises of
the island. Note that “twangling” is a real word (it’s a less common form of the verb
“twang”), so both examples in the lines below are conventional onomatopoeia.
Be not afeard. The isle is full of noises,
Sounds, and sweet airs that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices...
Onomatopoeia in James Joyce’s Ulysses
The opening lines of the “Sirens” chapter of Ulysses contain three different types of
onomatopoeic language: conventional onomatopoeia with real words that sound like the
things they refer to or describe, non-onomatopoeic words used to create an
onomatopoeic effect, and onomatopoeia with made-up words. In the latter type, Joyce
fuses conventional onomatopoeic words (“ringing” and “peep”) with other words
(“steely,” “thnthnthn,” and “ofgold”) to create entirely new words with their own unique
sonic effects.
Bronze by gold heard the
hoofirons, steelyringing imperthnthn thnthnthn.
Chips, picking chips off rocky thumbnail, chips. Horrid! And gold
flushed more.
A husky fifenote blew.
Blew. Blue bloom is on the
...
Trilling, trilling: I dolores.
Peep! Who's in the... peepofgold?
Tink cried to bronze in pity.
And a call, pure, long and throbbing. Longindying call.
Decoy. Soft word. But look! The bright stars fade. O rose!
Notes chirruping answer. Castille. The morn is breaking.
Jingle jingle jaunted jingling.
Coin rang. Clock clacked.
Onomatopoeia in James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake
One of the most famous and outrageous examples of onomatopoeia in all of literature:
the 101-character word Joyce made up in his novel Finnegan's Wake to represent the
sound of the thunderclap that marked Adam’s fall from grace in the Garden of Eden.
The fall
(bababadalgharaghtakamminarronnkonnbronntonnerronntuonnthunntr
o varrhounawnskawntoohoohoordenenthurnuk!) of a once wallstrait
oldparr is retaled early in bed and later on life down through all
christian minstrelsy.
Though it looks like pure gibberish, the word contains elements of real words from
several languages, including French, Greek, and Japanese. And yes, it is possible to
pronounce it (listen here). This example comes from the first few paragraphs
of Finnegans Wake, and Joyce used several more of these 100+-character “thunder
words,” as they’ve come to be called, throughout the novel.
Onomatopoeia Examples in Comic Books and Superheroes
Though not so common in modern comics, comic book writers of the past often
captured the power of superheroes in action with blunt onomatopoeic language, mixing
real words like “Pow!” with made up neologisms like “Blap!”
