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Descriptive Language

Question

What is an Onomatopoeia?

2 years ago

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215 Replies

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10274 views

D

Dolores Haley


215 Answers

Lena H Profile Picture
Lena H Verified Sherpa Tutor ✓

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Onomatopoeia is a figure of speech, or words and phrases, that sound like their meaning. An example is “buzz.” When we picture a bee in our minds, the sound that the bee makes sounds similar to the word for it: “buzz.” Other examples of onomatopoeia include “ding dong” or “boom!”

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Hamza H Profile Picture
Hamza H Verified Sherpa Tutor ✓

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An onomatoepoeia is a word or phrase indicating a sound of some description has been made, e.g. CRASH, BANG, BOOM

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Jade Jullien

Onomatopoeia is a word that represents a sound. An example would be Bang! or Snap! They help elevate language beyond the actual words on a page by creating more vivid imagery with their sensory effects.

Corina K Profile Picture
Corina K Verified Sherpa Tutor ✓

IELTS Teacher with 20 years experience in all language exams

It is when we form words from how things sound. For example, buzzing from the buzz sound that the bees make.

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Helena M Profile Picture
Helena M Verified Sherpa Tutor ✓

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An onomatopoeia is a word that phonetically resembles or suggests the sound that it defines. Meow or honk are examples of this.

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Maya M Profile Picture
Maya M Verified Sherpa Tutor ✓

English Teacher/Tutor 7+ yrs, Lang&Lit, TEFL, Personal Statement, UCAS

Onomatopoeia is a word which sounds like the sound it is describing, and is used for literary effect. For example: meow sounds like a cat's meow, pop sounds like a pop etc. Other examples include: beep, honk, woof, bang.

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Zainab Imran

A word we associate with describing a sound, especially and in particular, terms that bring sounds into a level of physicality, like pop or bang!

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Helena Weblin

A word used to show a noise for example: crash or bang

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Jennifer Mellors

A word (usually describing a sound or impactful action) that sounds as it reads. For example 'Bang' or 'Beep'.

Stephen D Profile Picture
Stephen D Verified Sherpa Tutor ✓

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Onomatopoeia is simply a word like "clap" which is the sound you make with your hands. So the sound of clapping is the same as the actual word.

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Jadwiga P Profile Picture
Jadwiga P Verified Sherpa Tutor ✓

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It is a word that imitates the natural sound; example easy to remember is a sound of a cat 'meow'

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Naomi R Profile Picture
Naomi R Verified Sherpa Tutor ✓

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Onomatopoeia is when words are used to mimic sounds. For example, the word "moo" is onomatopoeia for the sound a cow makes.

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Jacob Mckean

Onomatopoeia might look and sound like a Harry Potter spell, however it is not as complicated as it sounds. Put simply, onomatopoeia means a word that replicates a sound. Examples are the easiest way to understand this concept. For example, 'bang' is a word but when saying it also replicates a noise. The same can be said for 'snap', 'roar' or 'meow'. It doesn't even have to be a dictionary defined word, 'zzzz' to describe sleeping comes to mind.

Russell B Profile Picture
Russell B Verified Sherpa Tutor ✓

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It is words that sound like what they represent such as 'bang' and 'zip'.

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Emma

A word that imitates a sound.

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