onomatopoeia

Everyday

1. Onomatopoeia is when a word sounds like the noise it describes, such as buzz, bang, sizzle, hiss, splash, cuckoo and woof. tree →
2. An onomatopoeia (or an onomatopoeic word) is one such word. tree →

In the lessons

In English and poetry lessons pupils find and use onomatopoeia to make writing lively and noisy: «The bacon sizzled in the pan.» Comics use it in big letters: POW! CRASH! BOOM! Animal sounds are different in different languages: an English dog says «woof», a French dog says «ouaf», a Ukrainian dog says «hav». Phrases: use onomatopoeia, an onomatopoeic word, sound words.

Examples

• «Buzz» is an example of onomatopoeia. tree →
• The poem is full of onomatopoeia: crash, splash, whoosh. tree →
• Add some onomatopoeia to make your storm sound real. tree →
• The comic showed «KAPOW!» when the hero punched. tree →
• «The snake went hiss» uses onomatopoeia. tree →
• Can you spell onomatopoeia without looking? tree →
• «Tick-tock» copies the sound of a clock. tree →
• In Japanese, a cat's meow is «nyan». tree →

Note

Uncountable when talking about the technique: «The poem uses onomatopoeia.» Adjective: «onomatopoeic». Pronounced «on-uh-mat-uh-PEE-uh». Spelling is hard: o-n-o-m-a-t-o-p-o-e-i-a. Do not confuse with alliteration (same first sounds: big bad bear). Many onomatopoeic words can be verbs or nouns: «the bees buzz», «a loud buzz».