20 Adjectives to Describe Sound

20 Adjectives to Describe Sound

Hi English learners. Welcome to a new lesson. We will look at 20 adjectives to describe sound.

Here is the list:

1. Abrupt
2. Booming
3. Brittle
4. Cheerful
5. Discordant
6. Distinctive
7. Distant
8. Disturbing
9. Faint
10. Familiar
11. Flat
12. Harmonious
13. Harsh
14. Hollow
15. Melodious
16. Monotonous
17. Resonant
18. Rhythmic
19. Sizzling
20. Soft

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Abrupt

Meaning: sudden and unexpected, usually unpleasant, too.

• Sandra interrupted me in an abrupt tone of voice.

Booming

Meaning: making a deep and loud sound.

• We could hear a characteristic booming sound in the background, played by a local band.

Brittle

Meaning: sharp and unpleasant. If your voice is brittle, you sound as if you are about to start crying.

• The orchestra sounded brittle in tone.
• Her voice became weak and brittle as if she was to start crying.

Cheerful

Meaning: merry, happy, in good spirits.

• When they got in, they could hear the cheerful sound of children singing.

Discordant

Meaning: producing an unpleasant sound. When music is discordant, it is not harmonious; it contains notes that do not go together.

• From the balcony, they could hear a bustling discordant sound of traffic in the street. 
• Tom Waits is a famous musician whose music sounds discordant.

Distinctive

Meaning: easy to recognize because it is different from any other sound.

• The doorbell produced a distinctive sound

Distant

Meaning: far away.

• The meeting was interrupted by the distant sounds of traffic.

Disturbing

Meaning: making you feel upset and worried.

• She could hear a disturbing sound coming from the pantry. It could be a mouse.

Faint

Meaning: not very clear or strong.

• We heard a faint sound of movement from the ground floor.

Familiar

Meaning: easily recognisable because you’ve heard it before.

• Suddenly, he heard the familiar sound of steps coming from the stairs.

Flat

Meaning: not showing much emotion, monotonous.

• The piano produced a flat sound.

Harmonious

Meaning: having a pleasant harmony, opposite from discordant.

• When Mark started playing, harmonious sounds spread throughout the room.

Harsh

Meaning: rough and unpleasant.

• The harsh sound of scratching was very annoying.

Hollow

Meaning: making a low sound like hitting an empty object.

• Knocking on the box produced a hollow sound.

Melodious

Meaning: pleasant to listen to.

• When she entered the house, Little Riding Hood could hear a melodious sound.

Monotonous

Meaning: a dull and repetitive sound which is always the same.

• Tessa was sitting in the chair, listening to the monotonous sound of raindrops.

Resonant

Meaning: loud and clear.

• The officer shouted in a sharp, resonant voice.

Rhythmic

Meaning: having a regular and repetitive sound or beat.

• There was a rhythmic sound of the machine working in the back.

Sizzling

Meaning: making a sound produced by food cooking.

• Sara listened to the sizzling sound of boiling water.

Soft

Meaning: not loud, pleasant.

• The baby was babbling in a soft voice.

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