125 Sizzling Onomatopoeia Examples
October 7, 2024
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 ancient Greeks 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
- Bang
The gunshot went off with a bang.
- Crash
He slammed the cymbals together with a loud crash.
- Boom
The booms from the bombs were deafening.
- Whack
The dog’s tail whacked against the ground.
- Snap
With every snap of my fingers, I felt the rhythm of the song even more.
- Crack
The crack of thunder hit our ears, and when we turned, we saw lightning spill down the sky.
- Pop
The champagne bottle popped and the cork flew across the room.
- 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.
- 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.
- Buzz
These flies have got to stop buzzing around me or I’m going to swat one!
- Hiss
The street cat hisses at me, even when I give her food—she really doesn’t trust humans.
- Clap
The clap of the horse’s hooves on the dirt path picked up as we started picking up the pace.
- Roar
The ocean’s roar reminded me that we had better move before the storm settled in.
- Bark
This dog’s bark is ferocious!
- Meow
When the cat meows at me, I feel like I really know what he’s saying.
Onomatopoeia Examples (Continued)
- Moo
The cow’s moo is hollow and abrasive, not at all like what I pictured as a child.
- 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.
- Baa
Every sheep in the field said “baa” as it passed us, hanging off the fence with the dogs underfoot.
- Ribbit
A million ribbits filled the night and we realized we were standing over a pond full of frogs.
- 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.
- Honk
When a goose honks at you, it’s best to go to the other side of the path!
- Ding
The timer dinged and I was so grateful to be done with that pop quiz.
List Continued
- Dong
The ding-dong of the bells is always so cheery at Christmastime.
- Jingle
The change in my pocket jingled, and I realized I might have enough to grab a quick coffee.
- 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.
- Tinkle
The small bells on the hem of the girl’s dress tinkled as she danced with the other toddlers on the floor.
- Slap
He slapped the desk, stood up, and said, “I’ve had enough!”
- Thud
Margaret dropped her bags with a thud and hung her head in shame.
- Thump
Steven thumped Greg on the back. “Chin up,” he said.
- Swish
The swish of the dancer’s dress enchanted us all as she twirled around the floor.
Onomatopoeia Examples (Continued)
- Splash
We hadn’t expected to see a dolphin, but he splashed in front of us, showing off, all the same.
- Drip
Larry, if that faucet drips one more time, I’m leaving this house and never coming back!
- Drop
Each drop of rain the bucket echoed off the metal pail.
- Plop
So, you just plop the pancake batter in the pan, and wait for it to spread out for you.
- Gurgle
The gurgling baby had a small bubble of spit on his lips.
- Burp
If you can’t stop burping every time you eat, how can we ever have company over?
- Glug
He’s really glugging down that whole bottle of Mountain Dew!
- Slosh
My shoes are sloshing full of water—please, just let me stop and dump them out.
- Fwoosh
Fwoosh, the airplane took off overhead.
- Whoosh
The whoosh of the bat’s wings in my ears scared me so much I screamed.
- Whirl
The whirling wind blew a small tornado of leaves at our feet.
- Zip
The first zip of my winter coat always reminds me that snow is coming.
List Continued
- Zing
That comment really zings!
- Whip
The seawind whipped the shore and tore the beach umbrellas to shreds.
- Creak
Creaking doors send shivers down her spine.
Onomatopoeia Examples (Continued)
- Squeak
Mice squeak and scatter across the floor.
- Groan
The old wooden floor boards groan underfoot.
- Grunt
The dog grunted as he plopped down on the rug and blew air out of his nose.
- Snarl
Tommy’s chihuahua snarls every time I try to pet him!
- Growl
I’m very afraid of the sound of a growling animal.
- Purr
What a pleasant, purring kitty cat!
- Hoot
The hooting owl signaled the coming of midnight.
- Tweet
Little birdies love to tweet outside my window.
- Chirp
Baby chicks chirp and wait for their mother to feed them.
- Caw
The cawing crow eyed me from across the road.
- Cluck
Pleasant, clucking chickens surrounding the children at the petting zoo.
- Splash
The water and soap splashed in the glass.
- Swoosh
Watch the basketball swoosh through the net!
- Crackle
The crackling fire warmed the room.
Onomatopoeia Examples (Continued)
- Tick
The clock’s ticking made me want to get up and leave.
- Tock
The tick-tock of the metronome kept us all on rhythm
- Blip
It was just a blip on the radar! Not a real alarm!
- Whir
The whirring fan blew the paper around the room.
- Plink
I dropped each stone into the pond with a plink.
- Ping
The water pinged as it fell into the gutter.
- Zing
Every zing of the shuttle across the board was a thrill!
- Splat
The batter fell into the pan with a pleasing splat.
- Squish
I squished the conditioner into my hair.
- Sprinkle
I listened to the sprinkle of the rain on the roof.
- Clang
Clang, clang, clang went the bell!
List Continued
- Chomp
Check out how that turtle chomps into that lettuce.
- Nom
Om nom nom—I love sandwiches.
- Bloop
And then with a little bloop, the bean popped out of the pod.
Onomatopoeia Examples (Continued)
- Blare
The trumpet’s blare was tinny in the morning fog.
- Rumble
Thunder rumbled over the plain.
- Gush
That fountain is gushing all over the place!
- Sputter
The car sputtered to start and took off.
- Skitter
The skittering, dry leaves sound like autumn.
- Rattle
Fake skeleton bones rattled in the hall of the haunted house.
- Clatter
Wooden shutters clatter against the side of the house in the rain.
- Clamor
The bells’ clamor startled the churchgoers.
- Clangor
The clangor of the gong in the plaza made the women rush indoors.
- Munch
He’s really munching on that salad, isn’t he?
List Continued
- Slurp
It’s nice to slurp your noodles in the pho restaurant!
- Wheeze
His wheezing cough kept me up all night.
- Ahem
That “ahem” really got everyone’s attention.
- Cough
“Cough, cough,” he said, and I knew he wanted me to look at the people on the other side of the room.
- Pitter-patter
Oh, I just can’t wait to hear the pitter-patter of little feet down the hall.
Onomatopoeia Examples (Continued)
- Titter
The tittering of those girls is driving me mad!
- Murmur
The soft murmur of the waves on the shore is healing me.
- Whisper
Shh, I want to hear the whispers.
- Yip
The dog yipped when the man grabbed his tail.
- Yowl
That dog’s yowl is breaking my heart.
- Yippee
Yippee! Let’s play!
- Oink
The pigs are oinking in the barnyard.
- Snicker
His persistent snickers are getting under my skin.
- Squee
Squee! I love this place!
- Bawl
She was bawling into her shawl.
Onomatopoeia Examples (Continued)
- Whimper
The dog whimpered on the other side of the gate.
- Beep
The truck’s beep signaled it was backing up.
- Flick
With the flick of his wand, the wizard saved my life.
- Neigh
The horse neighed and leapt out of its enclosure.
- Trill
The trilling buzzer sent us all home in disappointment.
- Boing
Boing, boing, boing, the ball fell down the stairs.
- Bump
The two stones collided with a gentle bump.
- Hack
He hacked through the wood with a sharp hatchet.
- Clink
Clink! We touched the rim of our champagne glasses and toasted the new couple.
- Jangle
The copper pots and pans jangled in the back of the caboose as the train rolled over the tracks.
- Tapping
“’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door—Only this and nothing more.”
- Mew
The calf let out a soft and gentle mew.
- Kaboom
All the sudden—kaboom!—something fell down the stairs and the lights went out.
- Coo
The new mother coos gently at her baby.
- Puff
Puff puff. Puff puff. He smoked slowly and stared at his cigarette.
Onomatopoeia Examples (Continued)
- Hum
The radiator gently hummed.
- Knock
Knock knock! Let me in!
- Chatter
His chattering teeth gave us away—we were all freezing, it was true.
- Gasp
Gasp! I never knew!
- Mumble
Would you stop mumbling and speak up already?
- Pow
Gunshots went off in the alley next door—pow pow!
- Toot
Toot! Toot! The train came around the bend with a cheery hello.
- Zzz
Zzz. Zzz. Richard snored all night long.
- Warble
The warbling nightbirds filled the forest with sound.
- Achoo
Achoo! He sneezed into his handkerchief and said goodbye.
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