Words & style · Tip 52 of 82 · 4 min read
Crash! Bang! Using Sound Words
Words that sound like their noise let readers hear your story. Here's how to use them well.
Sizzle. Thud. Drip. Say them out loud and you can almost hear them. Words that sound like the noise they describe are called onomatopoeia (on-oh-mat-oh-PEE-ah). They turn your story up loud.
Sound words for every mood
- Loud and crashing: bang, boom, smash, clatter, wallop
- Soft and gentle: hush, rustle, patter, swish, purr
- Wet and squishy: splash, squelch, drip, gurgle, splat
- Creepy: creak, scratch, hiss, tap-tap-tap
- Funny: boing, parp, splodge, hiccup
Put the sound first
A sound word at the start of a sentence makes the reader jump, just like your character does. It grabs attention before the reader knows what made the noise.
Okay 😐
There was a loud noise from the kitchen, and the pans fell on the floor.
Wow! 🤩
CLANG! Every pan in the kitchen hit the floor at once, and the cat shot out of the window.
Quiet sounds count too
Sound words aren't only for explosions. Small, soft sounds can make a scene feel calm, or very tense. A slow drip, drip in a dark cave is spookier than any bang.
The house was asleep. Somewhere, a tap went drip. The stairs gave a tiny creak. Then, very softly, the letterbox went clink.
Invent your own
If no word fits, make one up! A robot might go bzzt-clonk. A jelly falling off a plate might go flollop. Readers love a new sound word, as long as they can hear it in their heads.