List of onomatopoeias

This is a list of onomatopoeias , i.e. words that imitate, resemble, or suggest the source of the sound that they describe. For more information, see the linked articles.

Human vocal sounds

• Achoo, Atishoo, the sound of a sneeze
• Ahem, a sound made to clear the throat or to draw attention before speaking
• Burp, the sound of gas being expelled through the mouth
• Chomp, the sound of someone biting down on food
• Cough, the sound made when clearing the throat or lungs
• Hiccup, a repeated, involuntary sound caused by a spasm of the diaphragm
• Hum, a low, continuous sound
• Sigh, a deep exhalation suggesting exhasperation
• Slurp, the sound of someone drinking or eating
• Yawn, the sound someone makes when they're tired or bored
• Ow, Ouch, a short sound made when someone is in pain

Sounds made by devices or other objects

• Awooga, or Aooga, the sound of an old-fashioned vehicle horn
• Beep, a high-pitched signal
• Beep, beep, 1929 word for a car horn
• Ching, the sound of metal on metal
• Clink, the sound of glass on glass
• Fizz, sound of effervescence
• Flutter, sound of rapid motion, e.g. aeroelastic flutter
• Oom-pah, the rhythmical sound of a deep brass instrument in a band
• Ring, the sound made by an old telephone
• Slosh, the sound of liquid moving inside a container
• Splash, sound of water upon disturbance
• Tick tick tick, sound of a timer
• Tick tock, sound of a clock
• Twang, having the sharp, vibrating tone of a plucked string
• Vroom, sound of an engine revving up
• Zap, sound of an electrostatic discharge

Things named after sounds

• Choo Choo, childish word for a train, after the sound of a steam locomotive
• Flip-flops, a type of sandal
• Khilkhilat, a type of ambulance in Gujarat for transporting newborn babies, meaning "Giggles"
• Tuk-tuk, word for an auto rickshaw in parts of Asia, Africa, and Latin America
• Tweeter, a high frequency loudspeaker named after a bird's shrill tweet
• Woofer, a low frequency loudspeaker named after a dog's low bark

Animal and bird names

• Aye-aye
• Bobolink
• Bobwhite
• Chachalaca
• Chickadee
• Chiffchaff
• Chuck-will's-widow
• Coquí ^[1]
• Cuckoo
• Currawong
• Curlew
• Dickcissel
• Dik-dik
• Hadada
• Hoopoe
• Hoot owl
• Kea
• Killdeer
• Kiskadee
• Mopoke, morepork or boobook owl
• Pewee
• Pobblebonk
• Potoo
• Poorwill
• Spring Peeper ^[2]
• Weero
• Whip-poor-will (Eastern)
• Whip-poor-will (Mexican)
• Willet

Animal and bird noises

For sounds listed by the name of the animal, see List of animal sounds.

English words for animal noises include:

• Baa: vocalization of sheep; "Baa, baa, black sheep"
• Bark, sound of a dog
• Bleat, sound of a sheep
• Buzz, sound of bees or insects flying
• Chirp, bird call
• Chirp, sound made by rubbing together feet or other body parts, e.g. by a cricket or a cicada
• Gobble, a turkey call
• Growl, low, guttural vocalization produced by predatory animals
• Hiss, sound made by a snake
• Honk, call of the male Canada goose
• Hoot, call of an owl
• Howl, sound made by canines, especially wolves
• Meow, cry of a cat
• Moo, sound of a cow
• Purr, a tonal, fluttering sound made by all members of the cat family
• Quack, call of a duck
• Ribbit, sound of some Pacific tree frogs or bullfrogs
• Roar, deep, bellowing outburst made by various animals
• Screech, high-pitched strident or piercing sound, as made by a screech owl
• Tweet, sound of a bird
• Woof, sound of a dog

Music groups or terms

• Bebop, a style of jazz
• Boom bap, a subgenre and production style of hip hop named after the sounds used for the bass and snare drums
• Cha-cha-chá, a genre of Cuban music named for the sound of dancers' feet as they graze the floor
• Djent, a style of progressive metal named after the sound of a palm-muted guitar
• Donk, a style of UK house music containing distinctive percussion sounds
• Doof doof, Australian slang term describes electronic music heard at raves
• Kecak , part of a musical drama, is named after monkey chatter, and "chak" is also the sound of a struck bar percussion instrument as in a gamelan
• Oom-pah, brass instruments, also Humppa
• Ratatat, a New York City experimental electronic rock duo
• Ska, a style of music characterised by a walking bass line
• Wah-wah, the sound of altering the resonance of musical notes to extend expressiveness

Works, groups and characters named after sounds

• "Boum!", a song.
• Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, a fictional car in the film of the same name based on the children's novel by Ian Fleming, named for the unusual noise of its engine.
• Clank, from the video game series Ratchet & Clank .
• Cock a doodle doo, from a nursery rhyme about a cockerel.
• Kachi-kachi Yama, a Japanese folktale, named for the crackling of a fire.
• Rattle and Hum , sixth album by the Irish band U2.
• Snap, Crackle and Pop, advertising mascots for branded cereal.
• Tung Tung Tung Sahur, an Italian brainrot character which is an anthropomorphic wooden object resembling a mudgar who holds a baseball bat, named after a Sundanese onomatopoeia of how Indonesians traditionally beat drums to commence suhur.
• Whaam! , pop art painting drawing from onomatopoeia in superhero comics (in this case, an explosion).
• Wham!, a 1980s English musical duo formed by members George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley.

Sounds in fiction

• Bamf, the sound Nightcrawler makes when teleporting
• Biff, Pow, Wham, Bam, Zap etc, used to represent punching an enemy in silver age superhero comic books, popularized by the 1966 Batman TV Series
• Budda Budda Budda, commonly used in Marvel and DC comics to represent machine gun fire
• Krakoom and Thoom, respectively the sound of thunder summoned by Thor's hammer Mjolnir and when the hammer physically hits a target
• Pew-pew or pew-pew-pew, the sound of a laser gun in science fiction ^[3]
• Shrrm, the sound of a lightsaber being ignited
• Snikt, the sound of Wolverine's claws being extended
• Thwip, the sound that Spider-Man's web shooters make
• Vwoop, the sound of an Enderman from Minecraft teleporting
• Vworp, the sound the TARDIS makes when it materializes

See also

• "The Bells", a heavily onomatopoeic poem
• Bling-bling, an ideophone for ostentatious accessories
• Cross-linguistic onomatopoeias
• Old MacDonald Had a Farm, an American folk song about animal sounds

References

1. "coquí - Wiktionary, the free dictionary". en.wiktionary.org. Retrieved 2025-04-27.
2. "Spring peeper". 6 January 2024.
3. "pew pew". Lexico. Oxford Dictionary. Archived from the original on February 25, 2021. Retrieved 14 August 2020.