Written Sound
Onomatopoeia Dictionary
Words that sound like the thing they mean: Imitative words. From the Greek "onoma" (name) and "poiein" (to make)
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aaugh

Exclaimation of dismay, commonly used, and originaly created by the Peanuts gang by Charles Schulz. Used frequently by Charlie Brown in the following situations: Losing a Baseball game, Having the football pulled away by Lucy, In an embarrassing situation. Also used by other members of the peanuts gang and can be used as a roaring sound to scare someone. 1) Linus: I told her about how you're madly in love with her, Charlie Brown: Aaugh!! 2) Snoopy: It's not the things that go 'bump' in the night that scare me. It's the things that go 'AAugh!'. Urban dictionary

dismay pain embarrassment comics

ahahah

aristocratic sounding laughter, or kind of a hick laugh

laughter

ahh ha ha

laughter, not really different from the ordinairy hahaha, but this one includes an attempt to capture the breath before the burst of laughter (ahh-)

laughter

badonkadonk

Extremely curvaceous female buttocks. Urban dictionary: When the immense, rounded muscle tissue of the rear creates a sound wave ripping through the local environment making a pressure wave against the ear drum in a pleasing Ba-dOnk-a-dOnk rhythm. Also: A womens derriere that has the shape of, and bounces like a basketball. The word is derived from the sound produced when you bounce a basketball. A case of the sound of one urban icon, naming another urban icon with similar propensities but that doesn't really make a sound.

badum tish

sound of a drum roll / rimshot hear the sound

music drum laughter

boff

1. the sound of a hit or punch. Find more hit/ punch words 2. verb (slang) to have sexual intercourse (with someone) 3. noun (plural boffs), a big laugh 4. a line in a film etc that elicits such a laugh

hard_hit laughter

borborygmus

the rumbling sound produced by the movement of gas through the intestines of animals, including humans. Stomach growling.

eat_drink animal gas

bwahaha!

laughter, boisterous



laughter

chortle

laughter, gleeful chuckle, chuckling and snorting. Ususally designated as a description of a weird laugh, but a chortle can be a laugh you make when you REALLY enjoy something. Often used in British comic "the Dandy and the Beano" or "Beano book", e.g. Dennis the Menace's annoying habit of guffawing at his own actions: "Ha ha! Look Gnasher! Chortle!"

laughter

chough

genus Pyrrhocorax of birds in the Corvidae (crow) family. now universally pronounced 'chuff'. However it probably originally rhymed with "how", as 'chow' is a reasonable representation of its call (according to this website). link1 (white-winged chough), link2 (red-billed chough)

animal bird

common poor-will

(Phalaenoptilus nuttallii) nocturnal bird of the family Caprimulgidae, the nightjars, found from British Columbia and southeastern Alberta, through the western United States to northern Mexico. Call: a loud "poor-will." about this bird

animal bird

cough

to expel air noisily from the lungs, usually to expel fluids that resonate during breathing

human disease

croup

throat-disease with a sharp, barking cough. imitative origin

human disease

cry

1. to call loudly, 2. to weep, 3. verb for the sound of a trumpet (in the poem "Lepanto" by G. K. Chesterton: "... Don John calling through the blast and the eclipse, crying with the trumpet, with the trumpet of his lips"

human music

eastern phoebe

(Sayornis phoebe) small passerine bird. This tyrant flycatcher breeds in eastern North America, although its normal range does not include the southeastern coastal USA. It is migratory, wintering in the southernmost USA and Central America. Voice: Song is two rough, whistled notes, "fee-bee" with the second note rasping or with a stuttered, more whistly second note "fee-b-be-bee." Call note a clear chip. about this bird

animal bird

flush

to flood or spray thoroughly with water or other liquid, as for cleansing purposes. flush can have many meanings but in the sense of flooding with liquid it can be seen as imitative

liquid rinse

Fnarr! Fnarr!

a ribald laugh to draw attention to a double entendre. From Viz magazine comic strip Finbarr Saunders (thanks, Patz Gardiner)

laughing human

giggle

laugh in a manner suggestive of foolish levity or uncontrollable amusement

human laughter

guffaw

course, hearty, boisterous laughter, belly laugh


human laughter

gyuh gyuh,gyuh

signature laugh of sherrif Roscoe P. Coltrane in tv series The Dukes of Hazzard

laughter

ha ha

laughter. most common form. intensity grows by adding ha's. absence of an exclamation mark can be a hint of sarcasm, or indicate a polite, but unenthusiastic laugh. dependent on context, tone, facial expression, etc. Also: haha

laughter

ha-ha-ha-HA-ha

emphasis on the fourth Ha (louder and higher pitch) and first three ha's gradually go up in pitch. signature laugh of cartoon character Woody Woodpecker. Youtube

HA-ha!

signature laugh of Nelson, a character from The Simpsons. Nelson is a bully at Bart Simpson's school, and he laughs at anyone who is in danger. His laugh is also written as "Haw-Haw!". link to sound



human laughter

ha!

1. laughter. not a boisterous laugh, but amused. 2. Also an exclamation used by the good guy jumping out of the bushes to suprise a villain

laughter

ha.

The period (instead of exclamation mark) makes this expression of laughter sound unenthusiastic, bored, in a hurry, or not really amused

laughter

hackigi-gi-gi-gi

laughter. signature laugh of Ed Bickel, from 3 south

laughter

hah!

laughter. diminutive, victorious

laughter

har har!

laughter. sarcastic, as if sarcastically saying "very funny." or old fashioned hick laugh

laughter

haw

laughter, often used to express scorn or disbelief. Often duplicated or triplicated (haw haw or haw haw haw)

human laughter

he-he

laughter

human laughter

hee haw

1. bray of a donkey, 2. loud coarse laugh

human laughter

hee!

laughter. sometimes slightly naughty, e.g. when used after pulling a naughty prank. Also used with multiple hees: heeheehee!

heh, heh!

laughter. sometimes perverted, or meaning "that's not really funny". Usually, "heh" is a quiet laughing sound, not laughing out loud. Heh heh may also be a good transcription of the signature laugh of Beavis, from cartoon Beavis and Butthead. Sometimes simply a more faint, private laugh

laughter

hehehe!

laughter. evil laugh used by bad guy when one of his plans goes right



laughter

hiccup

spasm of the respiratory organs accompanied by a resonant gasping noise. Also: hiccough

human eat_drink

ho ho ho!

laughter. signature laugh of Santaclaus

laughter

hohn hohn hohn hohn

laughter. evil... and French. "We will show the stupid Americans who le clutzy frog, eh?" "HOHN! HOHN! HOHN! HOHN!" -- The Simpsons, Treehouse of Horror 8

laughter

huh huh huh

laughter. signature laugh of Butt-head from cartoon Beavis and Butthead



laughter

huuuuuuuuuugh

cry of a hippopotamus

animal

hyuk hyuk

laughter. more old fashioned and more hick than yuk, yuk

laughter

Kaaahhkkk

Sound of a cat coughing up a hairball. More cat sounds

animal eat_drink disease cat vocalization

kashl

(pronounced cashel)sound of a rattly, phlegmy cough

human disease crack

kekekeke

laughter. more old fashioned and more hick than yuk, yuk

laughter

kookaburra

The kookaburra is a genus of birds native to australia whose name is imitative of its call. The call sounds a bit like hysterical human laughter, or maniacal cackling, depending on the species. more info, video

animal bird laughter

lub-dub-lub-dub-lub-dub ...

Sound of a beating heart. This seems the most common spelling, used in medical texts. Also: dup-dup; ba bum; plop-plop; thud-thud; pop-pop; Sometimes the heart is said to throb and throb is also thought to have imitative origin. (Yahoo Answers, 1, 2)

human disease pounding pump heartbeat

mrrrrgggggllll

sound made by murlocs (creatures in the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) World of Warcraft. also: mrclughluhlua, maagluuuuughhhhhh, mrglmrglmrglmrgl, aurrrrrrrrruuuuggguglugglugglugluguaa (according to players)

animal

mwahaha

laughter, this is usually an evil sounding laugh. also: muahaha, muhaha

na na, na NA na

interjection. melodic childish taunting phrase, expressing a feeling of superiority or contempt for another. Meaning is similar to sticking your tongue out or laughing at someone. Often pronounced in a nasal voice. see also: neener, neener; nyah, nyah / nya, nya

laughter

neener, neener

interjection, typically used to taunt, ridicule, or boast in a childish manner. Verbal way of sticking your tongue out or laughing at someone. Often pronounced in a nasal voice. See also: nyah, nyah; na na, na NA na. WikiAnswers

laughter

nyah, nyah

interjection, typically used to taunt, ridicule, or boast in a childish manner. Verbal way of sticking your tongue out or laughing at someone. Often pronounced in a nasal voice. See also: neener, neener; na na, na NA na; nya, nya

oooaughoaua

coughing sound, used by a recurring character named Lorraine from the TV show Mad TV. She makes this sound when clearing her throat, also perhaps in disgust and/or satisfaction as well as in times of awkward silence to ease the tension. It is normally accompanied with a saying such as "god that's cute" while she unknowingly destroys the property of others when checking things out. Laymen can make this sound as well in their everyday life to add comedic relief to a conversation making references to Lorraine, as well as to describe something disgusting. Video: Clip 1, Clip 2, Clip 3.

human

owl

Nocturnal bird of prey. The name is thought to have imitative origins, imitating the owl's vocalizations. Wikipedia

bird animal hoo

poop

Children's euphemism meaning excrement. This word is thought to be of imitative origin

human animal

potato-potato-potato

Sound of a poorly running motorcycle engine. The sound emphasis is on the 'p' and 't' rather than the vowels. Janet writes: "My sister used the above expression to describing a problem she had on starting a new motorcycle - it was jerking along as if it had 'kangaroo juice' in the tank. She assumed a "Gangnam Style" stance and dance to illustrate it, while saying "there I was going 'potato-potato-potato' - what a show-up!" She says that this expression is often used within her group of motorcycling friends, usually in connection with novice riders, although it may be in use more widely across the UK. The sound emphasis seems to be on the 'p' and 't' rather than the vowels." (thanks Janet!)

engine movement

red knot

(Calidris canutus) is a medium sized shorebird. name may be imitative of the birds vocalization, sometimes described as a soft "knut", or a soft "quer-wer", though usually the bird is silent. link1, link2

animal bird

roar

1. to utter a a full deep prolonged cry. Typical cry of a lion 2. loud boisterous laughter. roaring with laughter is in response to something absolutely hilarious

laughter animal

scream

to utter a shrill piercing cry. note: the vocalization of eagles is often called screaming, although according to this wikipedia article, Bald Eagles normally squeak and have a shrill cry, punctuated by grunts, and the scream that is found in films this is usually the call of a Red-tailed Hawk, dubbed into films for dramatic effect.

human animal

shuush, shuush

sound of skiing through the snow (ref)

movement snow sliding sports

snicker

laughter. indicating derision or perhaps an immature reaction to lewd material, can have connotations of being mean spirited - laughing at someone else's expense

laughter

snore

to snort, to make harsh noises through nose and mouth while sleeping

human animal

snort

1. cry of a pig, but horses snort too, sometimes 2. the act or sound of sniffing powdered tabacco or cocaine into the nose 3. suppressed laughter, a burst of laughter through the nose - since this is viewed as so embarrassing, when someone snorts with laughter, it's generally at something surprisingly hilarious

laughter animal

splosh

make a splashing sound, to make a certain noise or sound, to walk through mud or mire, to cause a liquid to spatter about. also: sploosh

animal movement liquid water

squelch, squerch

sound of walking through mud. from:
We're going on a bear hunt by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury

liquid foot steps

swish

sound of an object moving through air or water

movement liquid gas

swishy swashy

sound of walking through tall grass. from:
We're going on a bear hunt by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury

grass walking

teehee!

laughter. giggle, mouth covered with hand, embarrassed and/or coy laugh



laughter

ugh

1. sound of coughing, 2. used to indicate the sound of a cough or grunt or to express disgust or horror

human human disease

vrau, vrau

Sound of a lightsaber swinging through the air in Star Wars movies. Also: Ffffkrrrrshhzzzwooooom..woom..woooom..
Reddit

saber weapon

whoa

1. command to stop (horse) 2. command to slow an action or thought, often used to express alarm or astonishment

human animal

whooping cough

an infection of the respiratory system caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis (or B. pertussis). It's characterized by severe coughing spells that end in a "whooping" sound when the person breathes in

human disease

whumpf

When the fracture of a weak snow layer causes an upper layer to collapse, making a whumpfing sound. Whumpf has been adopted as a technical avalanche term to describe the sound of a collapsing snowpack when you cross the snow. For instance, "we got a lot of whumpfing today", or "the snowpack whumpfed like rolling thunder just before it released and caught us." Avalanche Encyclopedia

Weather snow movement hit

woah, oh, oh, oh!

signature laugh of cartoon character Elmer Fudd

laughter

woo-hoo!

signature laugh of cartoon character Daffy Duck, often uttered when Daffy has to escape from someone he has just pulled a prank on

laughter

Woom

Sound of a lightsaber swinging through the air in Star Wars movies. Also:vrãu, vrãu Reddit

saber weapon

yuck

exclamation expressing disgust. Sometimes "yuck yuck" is used as the sound of laughter, but for that "yuk yuk" is used more often

human laughter eat_drink

yuk yuk

laughter. similar in flavor to "har har", but more old fashioned and more hick

human laughter


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